The Handkerchief
by rozukitsune
Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone...  summary continued within
1. Prologue

The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T - (May change rating later)

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials _S.K._

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

Author's Note: Just so you know, the "Eriol/OC" in the pairings list does NOT mean that this is going to another one of those stories where the OC is the most awesome person, like, evah, and sweeps the unsuspecting FC off their feet while the rest of the cannon is left gaping with their mouths open like fish in a bowl. You have my word. ;)

* * *

(Prologue)

The party was a lively function. Just about anyone who was anyone had turned out for it. Even those who were not necessarily royalty of any kind but simply had a lot of money thanks to their entreprenurial endeavors. The place was packed... which meant there were a _lot_ of people. This was a mansion after all (and one of the largest in this part of England). The owner of this modest castle was not a king, but he was the most powerful sorcerer in England and therefore the King's most trusted advisor. (Better to have a powerful sorcerer as your ally rather than your enemy)

This afforded him certain perks, and plenty of money to throw around. As it were, the current queen was unable to bear children, and since the King loved her so and wouldn't budge when council suggested getting rid of her, it was decided that the sorcerer's own young son would be the next heir to the throne.

This party was actually a celebration of this most recent royal decree. The sorcerer wanted everyone to know that the King had chosen _his _son out of the few young boys that might have been in the running. There was, of course, another reason for the party. As heir, the sorcerer had learned his son was required to have a bride. He had not been happy about this, what father would want their own son to be forcibly wed to someone he'd never met? Apparently, however, the council had _tried_ to let the heirs do whatever they wanted, but history showed that it had only led to bad choices or no choice at all. Since young men therefore could not be trusted to pick their own wives properly (or in a timely fashion) it was decided that the women had to be chosen for them ahead of time. Thankfully there was a loophole the sorcerer had found. If his son found someone he truly loved (and therefore preferred to marry) before his official coronation (which would be the day after the king passed away), or before he was 18 (whichever happened latter); then the arranged marriage could be called off in favor of this new bride-to-be, assuming she passed council's test of character.

So the sorcerer was keeping an eye on the little girls who had come to the party and how his young son interacted with them. He mingled with their mother's and father's, looking to weed out the ones that he believed were unacceptible options for the arranged marriage. Of course, if his son happened to fall in love with one of the little girls he'd already taken off the list then he would let his son be happy. However, his son was five. It was highly unlikely that a boy of that age would have any kind of interest in girls at all, and practically impossible to expect him to truly fall in love at such an age. That was ok though, the sorcerer planned to hold a party like this each year until his son _was_ old enough to make the choice for himself. In the meantime... he needed to have a name to please the council...

* * *

"Hehehe~" A little girl ran alone through the gardens that surrounded the mansions. Her hair was a very light brown in color and was short, falling just underneath her chin. A couple of slightly longer strands hung down past her bangs and curled around her small cheeks. She wore a white dress with a pink flower petal design and white shoes. Across her bright green eyes hung a white feathered mask.

She dived in between collumns of green vines that seperated one section of the garden from another, giggling merrily as she went. She had just escaped the stuffy party in favor of the pretty flowers that she had spied lurking on the other side of the windows and found the whole situation highly amusing. Would her mother give her a stern talking to after she was found? Would she wave her finger and complain about the green stains she would get from rolling in the grass? Probably... but she found it funny anyway.

Around a large waterfountain she danced, singing about the flowers and the trees. She eventually found her way to a little picnic area, complete with flowering cherry trees and an ornate bridge that crossed a large koi pond. Surprized, she spotted a young boy standing on the bridge, throwing small bits of bread into the water for the variety of birds that had gathered there.

Curious, she skipped over to the bridge and peeked out at him from behind one of the trees. He was no older than she... short midnight blue hair framed his small face as he stared at the pond below. He wore thin wire-framed glasses rather than a mask, which led her to believe he actually lived here unlike her. He was dressed in a dark blue jacket decorated in a black pattern that was popular with royalty. He wore black slacks and black shoes. In one hand he held half a loaf of bread, with the other he was picking at it lazily and tossing it down below to the birds.

"Hey... why aren't you at the party?"

He jumped in surprise as he heard her voice, dropping the rest of the bread he was holding. She blushed and giggled with embarrassment, "Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Recovering, he shook his head, "No... it's ok. I just wasn't expecting anyone to find me here."

She walked up to him and tilted her head. "Hiding?"

He sighed and nodded, turning to look back down at the birds that were fighting to keep the half-loaf of bread afloat while simultaneously eating it.

"Why?"

He shrugged, "My dad threw this party to find me a bride."

Her green eyes sparkled with amusement as she joined him at the railing, looking down at the birds as well. "What's a bride?" she asked curiously.

He looked thoughtful a moment, "I'm not sure... but I think that you could be one."

"Me?" She asked.

"Well... my dad was making a list of all the little girls coming to the party. He said that I was going to have to choose one of the names on the list to be my bride."

"What happens then?" She turned to look at him, fascinated by his predicament (which neither of them really understood).

His little brow furrowed some more then he shrugged, "I don't know, but all the little girls at this party have been... I don't know. They've all been _really_ nice to me. Super sweet, like they're faking it. I think that they know about this whole bride thing. I think they're all trying to get me to choose them."

She blinked and looked thoughtful, "My mommy didn't say anything about it... so I guess not _all_ the girls know."

He tilted his head back to glance at her, taking in her bright smile and carefree aura. Her smile was so infectious... he couldn't help but smile back. "I guess not."

"Do you not _want_ a bride?" She asked.

He sighed and shrugged again, "I don't really know what they are... but if I have to put up with girls... and girl _cooties... _then I don't think I want one."

She laughed at his comment and once again he found himself smiling in spite of himself.

"Girls don't have cooties, silly." She corrected him, looking superior. "_Boys_ are the ones with cooties."

He stared at her, trying to figure out if she was really serious. In spite of the fact she was smiling he could tell that she was.

"Hmph, I don't think that's true!" He argued.

"Well, if girls don't have cooties, _which we don't_, and boys don't have cooties..."

"Which we don't!" He interjected.

"... then prove it!" She teased in a sing-song voice.

"How?" He asked in surprise.

She held her arms out, "Dance with me!"

"What? No way!" He laughed.

"Cootie boy, cootie boy!" She sang.

"I do _not_ have cooties!" He insisted, turning red.

She waved her arms at him in welcome. "Dance with me!" she repeated.

"W-we... I mean... there isn't even any music!" He managed.

"If there were music, would you dance with me?" She asked.

"Y-yes..." He replied uncertainly.

She beamed at him brightly then, without warning, grabbed him and started whisking him around the bridge humming a lullaby that her mother always sang for her.

"Hey!" He tore himself away from her. She stopped and stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"No, wait! Don't cry..."

"Why won't you dance with me?" She demanded.

He shook his head and took her hands in his, quieting her tears as suddenly as they'd come. "The boy is supposed to lead, silly."

"Oh yeah..." she trailed as she stared up at him.

He smiled, "Sing that song again?"

She smiled and nodded.

_~Everybody's looking for that something, one thing that makes it all complete._

_You'll find it in the strangest places... places you never thought it could be._

_Some find it in the face of their children, some find it in their lover's eyes._

_Who can deny the joy it brings, when you've found that special thing?_

_You're flying without wings~(Flying without wings, Westlife)_

They danced as she hummed, it wasn't particularly special (neither of them were very good), but something clicked between the youngsters as they walked in their slow circle. They both felt warm and happy, safe and complete in each other's arms. It was a feeling beyond their comprehension, nevertheless neither of them ever wanted it to go away...

"Eriol?"

They paused as an older man's voice broke the mood.

The little girl blinked at the boy as he stared off towards the sound of the voice. "You have to go?"

He nodded, "My dad is looking for me..."

She nodded, "I guess this is goodbye then."

He blinked, "Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

She grinned and waggled a finger at him, "So you can tell your dad that you want me to be your bride? No way" she stuck out her tongue.

"Of course not! I just want to know it so that I can find you again after the party is over!" The boy insisted.

She reached down and stuffed one hand into a pocket that had been hidden in the folds of the dress. From it she pulled a handkerchief that matched the design of her dress. She handed it to him. "There, those are my initials..." She said pointing to the black _S.K._ sewn into the fabric.

"So?" He asked, wondering what was going through her head.

"Eriol, are you out here?"

"Coming!" He called back, turning to the girl to find out why she had given him the handkercheif...

But she was gone.

He stared at the surrounding wall-vines in disbelief... wow, she was fast! He stood there in the clearing clutching the handkerchief until the sorcerer rounded the corner and spotted him standing there.

"There you are Eriol! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Oh... yeah... sorry dad." The young prince managed, pocketing the bit of cloth before his father could see it.

"Did you meet any nice little girls yet?" The sorcerer asked as they walked towards the mansion. The boy was surprised to find the place completely empty of guests when they returned. Had he imagined the whole thing?

"I guess so..." Eriol trailed, sounding disappointed.

The sorcerer took the boy's tone of voice to mean that he had been correct to assume that the boy simply wasn't ready to make his own decision as to the woman he would someday marry. "Well don't worry, there's plenty of time for meeting girls... "

_'In the meantime though, I picked out a bride for you while you were hiding in the garden, just in case.'_ The sorcerer thought as he looked at his son's glum expression.

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	2. A fresh start

The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T - (May change rating later)

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials _S.K._

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

* * *

(A fresh start)

Eriol Hiiragizawa was just about the most self-absorbed person on the face of the planet. At least, that's what his step-sister thought of him. Oh sure, maybe to all the girls he dated he was smooth, debonair, mysterious... but to her he would always be wily, full of himself, and a smart ass. He was also obviously the apple of his father's eye... and therefore got just about everything he ever wanted. There were only two things in his life (as far as she knew) that he'd ever been denied. The first thing of course involved her being his sister in the first place. He'd put up quite a fight all those years ago when his father had met her mother (the boy's own mother had actually died when he had been very small), and then found out that the two were getting married. She hadn't seen what all the fuss was about, really. As long as their parent's were happy right? And the two of them looked so much alike no one could tell they weren't related by blood. Thankfully he'd gotten over it, and she suspected that he even liked her as his sibling now, since he tended to confide in her about his latest exploits as though they were trophies worthy to be proud of. He'd also confided in her thing number two; apparently there was this girl that he'd met a long time ago that he'd fallen in love with and was now the cause of the aforementioned exploits. She'd left him only a handkerchief with her initials... and so he'd become obsessed with dating people with those initials in their names in the hopes of finding her again.

"What are you thinking about Tomoyo?" Her brother queried from the head of the table. The two of them had been eating lunch in silence for the last hour. Tomoyo enjoyed this time with her brother, it was one of the few moments of her day that didn't involve any kind of yelling (Eriol had taken to ditching all of his classes now that he was in high school) or arguing (Tomoyo didn't like to hear about his latest exploits).

She blinked up at him from her soup bowl and smiled, grey eyes twinkling. "Just how much of a jerk you are." she teased.

Eriol flashed a foxy grin at her, "Tsk, I am not a _jerk_ just because I like dating." She blinked... it always surprised her how easy it was for him to read her mind.

She shrugged, "Maybe not by _your_ definition."

Eriol wiggled a finger at her. "It's not _my_ fault girls are so... fragile. I have a responsibility you know, and I don't have forever to find the one..."

"Yeah, yeah... that's such a lame excuse, you know that?" Tomoyo asked, raising her eyebrows.

The blue-haired youth just stuck his tongue out at her, "You're just saying that because you're jealous." he stated factually.

She gasped with laughter, "Jealous? Of _what_?"

He gave her a holier-than-thou glance, "Of how popular I am. You could be popular too if you would just date someone already..."

"Hmph! I will not put other people through that kind of torture." Tomoyo retorted.

"Torture?" Eriol asked curiously.

"Well, it's really none of my business... but it's not nice how you always just toss your girlfriends aside when you realize they're not this imaginary girl you've set up as some kind of unreachable standard." Tomoyo explained.

Eriol shrugged, this didn't really bother Tomoyo though, since she knew her opinion on the matter didn't affect him at all. "One, she's not imaginary..."

"... says you..."

"Two, why should I waste my time with a girl I know isn't her? I know what I'm looking for, you should be happy... most guys don't have any clue what they want." Eriol finished with a royal wave of his hand.

Tomoyo just rolled her eyes and went back to her soup. They'd had this argument so many times already she was surprised that it still even came up. She would say what she always said, and he would reply with his preprogrammed replies.

"Anyways, I still say you're jealous. Just because I 'torture' my dates, as you put it, doesn't mean you have to." Eriol pointed out.

"The only way to keep from breaking other people's hearts is to not date them." Tomoyo answered crisply, unruffled.

Eriol frowned a moment, "That's not necessarily true you know. Just as you say girls take it personally when I toss them aside... guys take it personally when you refuse to give them a chance."

"Why don't you do things your way, and I do things my way, and we'll see which one of us finds our true love first." Tomoyo answered with a shrug, trying not to be baited. It was not as easy for Tomoyo to ignore her brother's barbs as it was for him to ignore hers. She constantly secretly wondered if he was right about everything.

"Fine." He dropped it immediately and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up onto the table just as their mother, Sonomi Hiiragizawa, burst into the room. Eriol landed on the floor with a loud bang as he removed his feet immediately. Luckily, she hadn't seem to have noticed his behavior... unluckily she seemed distracted with something obviously more irritating. Unlucky, that it was the piece of paper Eriol'd thrown out earlier that day with explicit instructions to the maids to have the contents incinerated. Obviously, they had not done so.

Honestly, his new stepmother was the only person he knew that would actually dig through trash to figure out what he was hiding from her...

She shoved the offending paper in his face, livid. "You failed all of your classes _again?_" She demanded angrilly.

Tomoyo folded her napkin against her empty soup bowl and tried to leave the table as quietly as possible. She hated seeing her mother angry like this...

"Just wait until your father see's this... that's the 9th school this year that you've been thrown out of... and the second in just the last month! They are running out of private schools that haven't heard of your awful track record or haven't blacklisted you yet!" She screeched.

Ah yes... the prestigious academy whosit-whatsis. That was Eriol's personal achievement... they'd thrown him out in less than two weeks. Assuming they found a new school for him to go to he'd of course have to try and break his new record.

"Are you even listening to me?" She demanded when she spotted the smirk on his face.

His face contorted immediately into an apologetic expression. Years of practice had made him a chameleon of emotion, he could fake anything... and he was good too. All 9 of those school's he'd been discharged from had come to his mother's attention... and yet she had still not even told his father about the first one...

"I'm sorry, I truly am." He said with just the right amount of self loathing and groveling he had learned worked wonders on her.

"Oh... ugh." One look at that pathetic pout and she was all comfort and motherliness. "Eriol, honey, I know it's hard... but you really need to start doing better than this."

"I just don't know what to do..." He professed sadly.

"You're a smart boy... you can remember all of those complicated spells your father teaches you... I know you can figure out how to get your homework turned in on time." She suggested.

"The teachers just don't like me... they think I'm a know-it-all and they fail me." Self loathing of the finest quality.

"Oh, honey..."

Tomoyo gagged as her mother petted his head. She hated this part of it most of all... god, her brother could get away with _anything_.

Suddenly, Tomoyo had an idea. Her lips curled upward as she thought of it and she coughed lightly, drawing her mother's attention.

"Um... mother, I was just thinking. Since it seems that the private school teachers all fail Eriol because they think he's too smart, maybe he would do better at a public school?"

"What? How do you figure?" Eriol replied, snapping instantly out of his act. Sonomi didn't really notice this however, her full attention on her daughter.

"Hmm... a public school? Well... they don't usually check the records of their new students... but aren't they, well... for _underprivileged_ children?" Her mother asked.

"Of course not, I go to a public school after all." Tomoyo pointed out.

Sonomi blinked in surprise a moment, then seemed to remember this and nodded. "Oh yes... of course. You wouldn't switch because of your little friend."

Tomoyo smiled and nodded.

"Mom, honestly... a _public_ school? Do you really think _average_ people are... trustworthy? That they won't do something... _nasty_ to me when they discover I'm royalty?" Eriol asked glumly, getting the feeling that this wasn't going to go well.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we? Since private ones are ruled out." His step-mother repeated.

"- But..."

"No buts, it's decided, you will go to school with Tomoyo from now on." Sonomi said firmly.

Tomoyo choked on her tea. "Wait a minute, _my_ school?" She stammered. Eriol grinned at the way her face paled and immediately changed his tone.

"Why that's a wonderful idea mother... maybe my sister's good study habits will rub off on me." He said. Tomoyo could almost see the angelic halo glowing above his head.

"Exactly! I shall have to get you registered immediately... schools in Japan begin again soon..." She trailed off, talking to herself as she left.

"_You go to school all the way in Japan?_" Eriol blinked in surprise. He knew that she wasn't home very much... but he thought that was because she attended a boarding school in France or something. Not a _public_ school in _Japan_ of all places.

Tomoyo grinned at him devilishly, "That's where we used to live before my mom met your Dad. I did have to beg a little to get her to keep our old house so that I could stay there while I was going to school."

"And... since you've been a part of my family here in _England_ for the past, oh... _eleven_ years, you've never thought of going somewhere _closer_?" Eriol asked, completely stumped.

"My best friend lives in Japan... I wasn't about to give her up just to become part of _your _family."

"Did it ever occur to you that you could make a new best friend here?" Eriol replied snidely.

Tomoyo's eyes twinkled, "There are some things worth keeping in one's life... and best friends are one of them. Oh, and by the way, she's off limits."

"What? Where did that come from?" Eriol blinked at the change of topic.

"My best friend is off limits. Since you will be going to my school, and you have an obsession with dating people with the initials of S.K. I thought I ought to warn you, out of fairness." Tomoyo stated firmly.

"Your best friend's initials are S and K?" Eriol stared. "And you never told me this... because?"

"Because she's my best friend alright? Best friends don't let best friend's date their brothers. Not if they want to stay best friends. And especially not if their brother is the world's expert on breaking girl's hearts." Tomoyo defended.

"I don't know if I am the _world's _expert. I have yet to convince my latest fiancée that she hates me.." Eriol frowned at this.

Tomoyo couldn't help but snicker, she wasn't all that fond of their father's latest choice for Eriol's future wife either, but the fact that the girl just would not give up in spite of Eriol's tricks did give her a few brownie points in Tomoyo's book.

"_Anyway_... my friend is OFF LIMITS, understood?" Tomoyo repeated, changing the subject back.

Eriol raised an eyebrow, "And if I refuse to cooperate?"

"Then I'm going right to dad and telling him that you've been thrown out of nine schools and have been purposely sabotaging every single one of your future relationships so that the girls would go crying to their mommies and refuse to be your bride." Tomoyo said in a no-nonsense tone.

"You have no proof..." Eriol gasped.

Tomoyo pulled out her phone and wiggled it at him. "Oh no? I happen to have every single one of those girl's phone numbers on my contact's list... and I'm sure a few well-placed calls to the principles of those schools would reward me with some tasty truths."

Eriol glowered, he'd never known his sister to resort to blackmail... this person must be really important to her. Sighing he rose his hands in surrender, "All right, all right. You win, this friend of yours is off limits, alright? Just show me a picture and I won't go near her."

"Well... don't _avoid_ her, she likes to be friends with everyone. Just don't _flirt_ with her... and don't respond if she flirts with you. And no hanging out with her... _alone_ alright?" Tomoyo corrected.

Eriol rolled his eyes and waved a hand at her dismissively, "Alright, alright. Friends and nothing more, I've got it."

Tomoyo smiled, "Good."

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	3. The girl with the beautiful smile

The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T - (May change rating later)

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials _S.K._

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

* * *

(The girl with the beautiful smile)

_Brrring_

The school bell echoed through the halls as the siblings walked into the school building. At least an hour of phone time between Tomoyo and various people had insured that their tardiness would not be an issue with the school in question. It really tickled Eriol to see his sister working so hard like this... telling her friend not to wait for her because she was so afraid of their meeting, apologizing to the principle that she was going to be late because she was showing her brother around his new campus (even though her real reason was that she was trying to keep people from mobbing him on the first day).

He also found it amusing, and slightly amazing, that his sister had such a good track record that the principle told her not to worry about being late and that this friend of hers had sounded disappointed, but resigned that her friend wasn't going to be able to chat with her until lunch.

"Now, we don't have the all of the same classes, since our interests are different... but hopefully you won't be skipping the classes I don't personally drag you to." Tomoyo said in a tone of voice that made him think she could be a tour guide. "You better not ruin this for me brother, I know the school won't care if they have to throw you out, but my staying in Japan half the year could possibly come to an end if I fail to keep you in line."

"Oh don't worry about that, I'm sure that whatever you said that convinced Mom to let you keep going to school here will continue to convince her long after I've been kicked out." Eriol reassured her.

Tomoyo glared at him, "Can't you just _once _at least _try_ to enjoy yourself? School can be fun if you let it."

"Please, the people in the private schools couldn't keep up with me, what makes you think these poor people can?" Eriol laughed.

"Some of them might surprise you." Tomoyo answered mysteriously as they entered a classroom at the end of the hall. The teacher glanced up and smiled brightly at Tomoyo. Obviously, the principle had already warned her that her prize pupil would be tardy.

"Class, we have a new student with us today. Please do your best to make him feel welcome!" The teacher introduced.

Eriol looked confused as Tomoyo paused in the front of the classroom. He had studied japanese back in England... but he hadn't learned very much of it (it had been one of the many classes he had skipped). He knew a little bit of conversational slang, but he somehow doubted that it would go very well here.

"Write your name on the board." Tomoyo whispered to him as the class started gossiping excitedly. Obediently, Eriol picked up some chalk and began to write his name... but Tomoyo immediately grabbed an eraser and scratched it out.

"What?" He whispered in surprise.

"This is a Japanese school remember?" Tomoyo snickered.

"Oh... right." He handed the chalk to her and she rolled her eyes, writing his name on the board for him. Eriol took the time to glance over the students in the classroom, smiling at them and winking at a few of the girls who giggled in response. Well... who needed to take a class when he could just use a bit of magic to understand them? He formed the idea in his head for the spell he was going to use, then did a simple motion with his body that would look to the students like he was just fidgeting nervously. Immediately he could understand everything they were saying.

Time to test how well the spell had worked. He coughed a little to clear his throat, then bowed his head in Japanese custom. "My name is Eriol Hiiragizawa, thank you for welcoming me, I promise to do my best." He lips formed the words in Japanese, but he had definitely thought them in English.

_'Perfect'_ he thought as he rose back up _'Now at least I can attend here without looking stupid for not knowing this language'_. Tomoyo dropped the chalk in surprise of how fluent he sounded... and after he couldn't even write his own name! Well... she supposed that Japanese could have been one of the few classes he'd actually paid _some _attention in...

The teacher waited until the class was finished greeting Eriol, then as Tomoyo finished writing her name on the board she pointed to a seat near the windows. "You can sit over there, Eriol-kun. And as soon as the class settles down we will start the class."

Tomoyo set down the chalk and turned around to see where the teacher had sat him. Oh no... it was right next to...

Eriol glanced up at her after he'd taken his seat and she glared at him. _'Off-limits'_ was the warning he saw cross her face before she took her own seat in the middle of the classroom.

Confused, he wondered why she was reminding him of that _right now_. That is until a cheerful hello from his left interrupted his thoughts. He turned to greet the owner of the voice, but his own response failed him as he recognized the girl from Tomoyo's picture.

Her bright green eyes twinkled as she smiled at him. Somehow... somehow the picture just hadn't done her justice.

"Hello, my name is Sakura! Let's be friends ok? If you have any questions just ask. I don't know as much as Tomoyo-chan... but I do know some things." She greeted him enthusiastically.

Eriol couldn't find his voice. She had stolen it from him with her heart-warming smile. Instead he settled for nodding sharply and forcing himself to pay attention to the teacher. _Who was this girl?_

As the day wore on, he found he had several of his classes with her. In every one she was energetic, smiling... her laugh was infections, her smile contagious. She was like the sun... warming the hearts of everyone around her. No wonder everyone wanted to be her friend...

And she was off limits.

At lunch, Tomoyo asked him if he wanted to join her, but he made an excuse about wanting to explore the school on his own. Eventually he found a secluded area where he could collect his thoughts.

_'So many years... so many schools... so many girls... and the first time I've ever felt this way... AND SHE'S OFF LIMITS'_ he thought to himself as he set out his lunch. "I have the worst luck..." he muttered aloud.

"Cheer up, it's only the first day, you know."

He froze in surprise as the girl he'd just been thinking about materialized from behind a nearby tree, grinning at him madly.

"So this is where you went... may I join you?" She asked curiously.

Nodding was the only thing he could manage, though a little voice reminded him that Tomoyo had said _no time alone_.

Sakura smiled brightly and plopped down on the grass across from him, taking out her bento box and opening it.

Eriol gathered himself together as best he could and managed a smile. "Isn't Tomoyo going to be worried that you're not eating with her?"

Sakura grinned at him devilishly, "Nah, she thinks I've got cheer leading practice today."

Eriol raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? I didn't know being a best friend of someone allowed them to be devious."

Sakura blushed, "Well actually I _did _have cheer leading practice today, but when I got there they decided to cancel it. Apparently there are too many people out sick today to practice our pyramids..."

He adjusted his glasses and looked thoughtful, "Well it _is_ flu season, I guess that's not your fault then."

Sakura smiled brightly, and Eriol couldn't help but smile back. "I thought I might see how you were adjusting... this area happens to be on the way from cheer leading practice to where Tomoyo usually sits at lunch time."

Eriol shrugged, "I suppose I'm adjusting as best as any prince can expect to adjust to a school that obviously isn't meant for royalty."

"A prince huh? I don't know if you should count this school out entirely... the people here might surprise you."

Eriol stared at her... Tomoyo had said the exact same thing...

"You think that much of the students here, huh?" He managed thoughtfully.

Sakura shrugged, "Well, honestly I wouldn't know how to compare the intelligence of us commoners to you royal people... but Tomoyo seems normal enough and she's not the best in _every_ class. We have some real nerds here."

Eriol laughed, "So what's your best subject then?"

Sakura went red. "Uh... sports..."

Eriol raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? Seems odd for a girl your age."

Sakura pouted, "Everyone can't be good at the same things..."

"I suppose so... " Eriol smiled.

"You don't believe me." Sakura frowned.

"The physical arts are not usually something girls excel in, no offense." Eriol smiled smugly.

"Alright then! A match!" Sakura challenged.

Eriol almost laughed, "What?"

Sakura pointed, "I'll race you from here to the track, and then one lap around it. If I win then you'll agree that girls are just as good at boys at whatever they do."

Eriol sighed, he _really_ didn't want to do this right now. Especially not with her... but she was asking for it. "Fine, but if _I_ win... then you forfeit one day of my choosing in which you will be forced to do something truly appropriate for a girl." Well that was innocent enough, he was pretty sure.

Sakura blushed at his challenge but stood her ground firmly. "Fine."

Eriol rose from the ground and dusted himself off. They stretched in silence for a few minutes then he turned to her with a wicked gleam. "I'll give you a ten second head start."

She frowned, but decided this was fairly generous and nodded slightly in agreement. They got into their starter positions and then she counted down to one. As soon as that was done she had gone off into the distance.

_'Wow... she's fast...'_ he thought idly as he watched her disappear. In truth, he hadn't been planning to race her for _real. _Tomoyo would never forgive him if she found out that he had made her promise to do anything for 24 hours, even though it would be feminine and even though his intentions were pure.

About 20 seconds later he started running... Sakura didn't even seem to notice that he'd waited longer than he'd said when she crossed the finish line before him. Eriol realized that he hadn't done any running like this in a while and hadn't needed to give her a head start because he had gotten a little out of shape.

"Fine, I admit it." He gasped, trying to catch his breath as she laughed at him. "Girls are just as good at guys at sports... but my admitting this means that for our next challenge I'll have to get you to admit that guys are just as good as girls in arts and music."

Sakura grinned at him, "Why would I refuse to admit that? There are plenty of talented male singers and artists at this school. Plus, I'm not going to pretend I'm good at any of that artsy stuff... competing against you in those subjects would just show how much I suck in those areas... not how good you are." She pointed out.

He laughed, "Indeed. Well then, my appologies for not believing you."

Sakura nodded, "Appology accepted..."

The school bell rang, signifying lunch had ended.

Sakura blinked, "Oh no... I didn't even get to eat..." her stomache growled on cue.

Eriol grinned and brushed himself off, then headed for his next class with a wave over his shoulder. "Good luck with that!"

Sakura stomped her way to class, _'Why did I have to go and waste my lunch hour... oh well, I guess it was for a good cause...'_

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	4. Natural

The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T - (May change rating later)

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials _S.K._

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

* * *

(Natural)

The days went on like the first day until Eriol had gotten used to his classes. This was both a blessing and a curse since Tomoyo was no longer dogging his steps... but now she seemed to be keeping an eye on him from around every corner. The only time he could really find to himself was during lunch and that was beginning to get old (though he was thankful that Sakura didn't seem to have told Tomoyo his hiding place).

Still... he couldn't bring himself to just completely ditch his classes. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but he figured it had something to do with the fact that he couldn't bear to miss a day of Sakura's presence. He didn't have _every_ class with her of course, but he spent that time fiddling around with the piano in the music room. Music had always been something he could comfort himself with when things didn't seem to be going his way. In the music he could vent his frustation that he couldn't let the first girl he'd been attracted to in years know how he felt about her... he could play the melody of his melancholy that fate had decided he would never find the person that the handkerchief belonged to.

"You play beautifully..."

Eriol smiled and paused, turning to his audience, who was currently resting her head on a window sill... he didn't even have to guess anymore. Sakura seemed to be wherever it is he was... whether he was trying to hide or not.

"Thank you."

Sakura smiled wistfully, "Did you write that?"

Eriol shrugged, "I just play whatever comes to me."

"Well it was beautiful... sad, but beautiful." Sakura replied.

"I think I have my own personal stalker..." Eriol commented with a raised eyebrow.

Sakura wiggled her eyebrows devilishly, "Oh really? Anyone I know?"

Eriol laughed, "I think you might."

"I think Tomoyo is onto me though... I'm finding it harder these days to get away from her so I can come and find you." Sakura admitted, looking annoyed.

Eriol blinked, "You are... _hiding_ from her?" What was the world coming to?

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, "Well... she told me I should stay away from you."

"Sounds familiar." Eriol commented, staring at her thoughtfully. "But now I am unbelievably curious... as to why you are ignoring your own best friend's instructions? Surely she has told you all about... my past." There was a bad taste in his mouth, suddenly all those warnings Tomoyo had ever said to him were starting to make sense.

Sakura averted his gaze, "Not... _all_ of it. And I don't know if I believe some of it anyway... you seem so nice. And so... sad."

Eriol froze, was he hearing her correctly? _'Crap... Tomoyo is going to **kill** me if this means what I think it means.'_ Putting on his coldest stare, he raised his eyebrows lightly, "I think you would be wise to listen to her. She is my sister after all, and your best friend... those things should mean something to you."

"...but..."

Eriol shook his head and got to his feet, turning his back on her so that she couldn't see how much it pained him to admit what he was about to say in front of her, "Go back and ask her, Sakura. Listen to what she tells you. Everything she will tell you is the truth... I am not a kind lover." There, he was blunt. It hurt like hell... but she had to know. Without waiting for a response he left the piano room and skipped the rest of his classes that day so that she wouldn't be able to find him even if she looked.

Later that evening his step sister came into his room while he was busy trying to avoid her.

"What did you do?" She demanded, shutting the door behind her. Eriol opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off. "Sakura just spent the last several hours asking me almost _everything_ about you... didn't I ask you not to spend any time alone with her? Didn't I warn you not to flirt with her?"

Eriol was stunned... even after all of the warnings he'd given her, she hadn't given up?

"Now she's got it in her head that you're just some injured puppy that hasn't been cared for correctly or something. This can't continue Eriol, if she falls in love with _you_..."

"I'll take care of it." He interrupted in annoyance, surprising her.

"What do you mean... how will you take care of it?" Tomoyo asked, confused.

"Just relax... I know what to do. I'll take care of it." Tomoyo looked at her brother closely. Something seemed off about him... different.

"Are... are you ok, Eriol? Have you been getting enough sleep?" She asked in concerned. He turned to glare at her, but she saw there was no fire in his haunted grey eyes.

"I'm fine, please go away." He demanded firmly, pointing at the door. Uncertain of what she aught to do with her brother in such a strange mood, she left obediently, but worry kept her up for several hours after she'd tried to go to sleep.

* * *

The next day Eriol was in his usual hiding place at lunch. He seemed to be resigned to something, though slightly paler than usual, as he sat there beneath the trees. Almost on cue he saw Sakura striding toward him with that smile radiating out from her lips... a smile he was sure would soon disappear.

_'I'm sorry, Sakura... I am truly, truly sorry for this...'_ Eriol thought as he turned his attention back to his lunch. In truth, he was probably going to hate this as much as she was...

"There you are, Eriol! You know, for a person who likes to hide all the time... you're not very good at it." Sakura teased as she approached him.

Eriol looked up at her, and for just a moment he wished with all of his heart he could take back what he was about to do. Just forget that he had called _that_ person last night... tell _her_ off the minute _she_ came to his "rescue" and spend the rest of his day basking in the warmth of Sakura's smile regardless of the consequences.

"So this is you'ah new school eh, sugar?" A chill ran down Eriol's spine as he heard the familiar southern drawl. Sakura glanced up in confusion as a young woman appeared from the opposite side of the clearing. She had long blonde hair done up in two perfect ponytails at the side of her head, held up by pink ribbons. Her clothing of choice seemed to be a very expensive looking dress with lots of pink and orange in it.

Sakura wondered idly what kind of accent this new girl had as she spoke to Eriol in what _sounded _like English.

"Oh... Sierra... you're back." Eriol put on his best fake smile as she approached him.

The girl's clear blue eyes observed Sakura with interest. "Ooh, who's you'ah friend, sugar?"

Switching to japanese, Eriol introduced them. "Sierra, this is Sakura. Sakura, this is my fiancée... Sierra Kindle."

_'Fiancée...?' _Sakura thought in disbelief. Sierra held out her hand, also switching to japanese, "Why it's a pleasure to make you'ah acquaintance, Suh-kuh-ruh."

Eriol choked back a laugh... Japanese spoken in a southern drawl... was very strange indeed. Eriol knew for a fact that his own British-accented Japanese wasn't even half as weird as listening to _that._ At least Sierra knew how to speak it though, which made things easier on him.

"Nice... to meet you." Sakura managed, staring at the outstretched hand in confusion.

"Forgive Sierra... she's learned a lot of languages so that she can follow me wherever I go, but she has no idea how to behave properly in any country but her own. The uh, handshake is a typical American hello." Eriol explained to Sakura, earning a raised eyebrow from Sierra.

"Oh!" Sakura blushed and cautiously offered her own hand. Sierra shook it with a smile and then released Sakura's hand. "So, uh... Sierra-chan, you're from America?"

"Certainly am." Sierra replied proudly. "Apparently Eriuhl here likes us American women... or at least that's what he tells me." God... she even butchered his name...

Sakura blushed and glanced at Eriol, whose expression was blank. _'This... can't be true...'_ she thought quietly. "So... uh... how long have... you two been... engaged?" It was not an easy question to ask, but Sakura didn't want to be impolite to the new girl (it was always best to ask people about themselves).

Sierra beamed an enchanted smile at her, which was proof she'd asked the right question. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around Eriol's neck affectionately. "Oh about two or three years now Ah guess. Eriuhl has had quite a few fiancées in his life, but none of those girls had what he needed like Ah do." she professed.

Sakura continued to stare at him... searching for something, anything in his face or his attitude that would tip her off that this was wrong... that this strange american was lying... but he didn't push the girl away when she'd hugged him... or seem to be in any way uncomfortable in her presence. (This of course was an act, though she didn't know that. Eriol was currently exerting every bit of self-control he had in his body to keep himself from revealing the truth that she was trying to pry from him. That truth being that he _really_ hated this girl...)

"And... when... is the, uh... big day?" Sakura asked shakily, her heart fracturing just a little.

Sierra gave her a dreamy look, "Only uh year away..."

"I see..." Sakura trailed, looking away for a moment. "Well... it was nice meeting you Sierra... I've... I've got to get going now."

"Alright, Sukuhruh, it was nice meeting you." Sierra waved at her as she disappeared. As soon as she was out of sight Sierra's smile melted into a sarcastic grin. "There, sugar... that girl shouldn't bother you anymore." she said, switching back to English.

"Thanks..." Eriol replied half-heartedly. "Now would you _get off_?" He snarled. Sierra removed her arms from around his neck and pouted.

"Aww don't be like that, sugar. Honestly! Ah don't know why you evan bothah... no girl's evah gonna be able to replace me." She pointed out.

"_You_ are not much of an option either." He reminded her coldly.

She just waved him off, disinterested. "Oh, come off it, sugar. You know _damn_ well that Ah am useful. Take that girl for instance. If I wasn't around then she would have kept on botherin' you, and you can't have _that_. You know that you _called_ me here so that I would get rid of her for yah."

Eriol had no response to that. She was right, of course... he _had_ called her for that reason. Now of course, he was regretting it... but if it weren't for his damned promise to Tomoyo...

"Would you _please_ go away?" Eriol managed to choke out.

Sierra raised an eyebrow at his tone of voice, then seemed to shrug it off. "If ah didn't know you bettah, sugar... I'd _swear_ that you were in love with this girl." she said suspiciously.

"Don't be ridiculous." Eriol replied stiffly. This reply seemed to placate the blonde, and with a sweet smile she twirled on her heels.

"Well then, Ah guess I'll see ya latah, sugar." she said with a wave over her shoulder.

Eriol waited until she was out of sight to let the realization of what had just happened consume him. _'What... have I done?'_ he thought bleakly.

* * *

**_You think you hate me now? You have only begun_ _to hate me. ;) Muahaha_**

_**~Rozu**_


	5. The boy from Hong Kong

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials S.K.

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

Author's Note: Thousand Petals, just so you know... I like Syaoran too. Just, not as much as I like Eriol. XD

* * *

(The boy from Hong Kong)

The weeks that followed were torture. Sakura didn't chase him down any more and barely even recognized his existence in class. Eriol attended, however... as though some part of him felt like he deserved this punishment for all those years of deceiving his dates just so that he could have his way. Tomoyo at least seemed pleased that they weren't spending any extra time together, though his pain did not go completely unnoticed by her... she still couldn't really put her finger on what was wrong and was temporarily ignoring the problem.

As time wore on, Eriol found himself falling farther and farther behind in all of his subjects, including his bi-weekly magic lessons that he had with his father. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, life had ceased to contain any meaning... even the music of his soul refused to play.

At some point, he found himself up on the roof of the mansion, staring up at the sky. Who knew what day it even was... or what he was supposed to have been doing at that moment.

His father crept out onto the roof behind him, closing the door that he'd just come through. Eriol glanced over at him, looking confused.

"Dad?"

"There you are, my boy..." His father smiled.

"How did you find me?" Eriol asked curiously.

He looked thoughtful, then glanced up at the sky, "Oh, just a hunch. Well, actually... you weren't in your room, but I felt your magical aura was still here. You know, when I was your age I used to hide up on rooftops too... I guess you're just a chip off the old block, eh?"

Eriol smiled sadly, "Heh... I guess so."

The older man sat down next to his son and folded his arms in his lap. "So, anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really..." Eriol replied.

His father smiled knowingly and nodded, "You know, I had always hoped you would someday fall in love... but the years just flew by and before I knew it I was running out of time to help you..."

Eriol frowned thoughtfully, wondering what his father's point was.

"That's when I found this in your room..." The sorcerer pulled a familiar white and pink handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to it's rightful owner.

"You... knew about this?" Eriol gasped stuffing the favor back in his own pockets.

"Why do you think your last few brides-to-be all had S and K in their initials?" His father grinned.

Eriol blinked, and realized this was true. "I... I thought it was just a coincidence..."

"There is no such thing as coincidence." His father corrected sagely.

"I guess not..." Eriol trailed, looking amazed.

"You know what else I know?" The sorcerer asked smugly.

"Hmm?" Eriol asked curiously.

His father poked him in the chest, "You're in love."

Eriol blushed in spite of himself and shook his head, "T-that's not..."

"Come on now, there's no point in lying to your old man. I know that look, son... it's been on my own face at least twice in the past. You've never expressed any kind of feelings for the girls you've been with thus far... but that look in your eyes right now speaks volumes. You've found her... haven't you? This S.K.?" His father asked knowingly.

Eriol's grey eyes flashed in pain, "I... I don't know that this is the same girl... but she's..." he was at a loss for words to describe what he was feeling.

Frowning, his father leaned down and took his son's chin in his hands. "What is it?"

"She's Tomoyo's friend... and I promised I wouldn't ruin their friendship..." Eriol admitted in despair.

"Oh your sister is just doing what she thinks is right... but if you show her that you are really serious about this girl I'm sure she'd back off. Deep down, I know she only wants you to be happy... if she could see what this was doing to you I'm sure it would change her mind." His father smiled.

"You really think so?" Eriol asked.

The sorcerer nodded.

Eriol looked thoughtful, then got up. "Alright... I'll try to discuss it with her."

"That's my boy." His father smiled.

Eriol took his leave through the door his father had come through. As he left, he missed the old man's slow frown.

"Have courage, my son... for the way ahead will be harder still..." he whispered to himself.

* * *

The following afternoon at lunch found Eriol arguing with his sister. His fault, he supposed, for even trying to convince her of what his father had told him last night... but he hadn't gotten any further than, "About... Sakura-chan..." before Tomoyo had interrupted him with furious accusations based on Sakura's current depression and how he had promised he would take care of the "problem" so that she wouldn't have to endure seeing her best friend in such agony.

"I can't believe you, I just can't believe you!" She stormed across the grass with him following closely behind.

"Tomoyo, if you would only listen!"

"Shhh!" She said suddenly, grabbing him and pulling him behind a nearby tree.

"Tomoyo-" He gasped, but she slipped her hand over his mouth and shook her head, pointing with her free hand to the school gate.

Eriol followed her gaze... through the gate entered a brown-haired youth that looked to be his own age. Tall and lightly muscled, the young man reminded Eriol of some of the bodyguards his mother hired on occasion. Most bodyguards were big and beefy... but Eriol had learned through personal experience that it wasn't always greater weight and muscles that won a fight...

His brown eyes seemed to burn with the passionate intensity of a person who knew what they wanted, and knew how to get it. Even in the school's uniform he appeared untouchable... like a hot-shot school bully that would not put up with being messed with.

His eyes scanned the surroundings a moment, then seemed to spot something further off. A smile broke out onto his features and he headed in the direction of the thing he had seen. Eriol followed his gaze and his heart skipped a beat.

The guy was heading for... Sakura?

Eriol glanced over at Tomoyo curiously, but was stopped short by the look of pure loathing in his sister's grey eyes. Shock overcame him. His sister... hated this person? Tomoyo, as far as he knew, didn't hate anyone. She didn't even hate him.

Slightly unnerved, he glanced back over to the brunet. Tomoyo grabbed him, and together they went from tree to tree until they were in earshot of the conversation.

"Sakura..."

Horror-stricken, Sakura glanced up from her lunch to greet the familiar owner of the voice.

"S-syaoran-kun..." She stammered in surprise.

Smiling softly, he kneeled on the grass beside her. "Please... don't look at me like that. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I'm not frightened... only surprised." She replied coldly.

His brown eyes widened in sadness, "Sakura... I'm so sorry about what happened... please, I'm just so happy to see you after all this time. Can't we just start over?"

Sakura stared at him uncertainly with her emerald eyes. "Syaoran... you left. You left without a word... no explanation, no phone calls."

"I know... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry doesn't cut it after five years!" She snapped.

"I had no choice..." He begged.

"Why are you back now? What do you want?" Sakura demanded.

Syaoran reached forward and took one of her hands in his. "I'm free now, Sakura... a free man who can do whatever he wants. Be with, whoever he wants... and I just want a second chance... to be with you."

In spite of herself, Sakura believed him. She looked into his eyes and saw sincerity. Uncertain, she forced herself to look away from him.

'How can he just come here like this and expect me to just welcome him with open arms?' She thought... that is until she spotted a pair of frozen grey eyes just behind a nearby tree.

She spotted him standing there, and suddenly any emotion she had been feeling vanished. So much pain... and all Syaoran was asking her was to give him a chance. Sealing her heart away deep within herself, she returned her gaze to the brunet.

"Fine." She said in a level tone, and Syaoran smiled, drawing her into a hug. She felt nothing... something had broken inside of her, and only time would tell if it could be fixed.

"I have always loved you."

The words reached Eriol's ears, and the scene instantly became too much for him. He tore himself away from Tomoyo and walked away, managing to be quiet enough that neither the new kid nor Sakura had heard him leave. Tomoyo followed him quickly but stealthily.

"This is bad" she said once they were out of earshot, then belatedly realized that Eriol wasn't listening.

"She... she has... a boyfriend..." Eriol shook slightly. How could he possibly change things now?

Tomoyo stared at him for a few moments. Her brother's grey eyes were clouded and stormy, and his features had defeat written all over them. Slowly, a new understanding overcame her... that look of total crushing defeat and agony... she'd seen it once before.

"You... " She stammered in surprise. Eriol lifted his head and glanced at her. Suddenly the haunted look in his eyes made perfect sense to her. "You love... Sakura." Tomoyo managed quietly.

Eriol managed a small, sarcastic smile. "Excellent deduction, Sherlock... great lot of good that will do me now..."

Tomoyo's face brightened... clearly she didn't agree. "No... that's perfect!"

Eriol sighed and raised an eyebrow at her... really? After all this "don't go near her" and "you have to do something before it's too late" now she thought it was perfect that he'd fallen in love with her? Girls were so confusing...

Tomoyo grabbed his shirtfront, that no-nonsense glare he couldn't resist was back... great, now what did she want from him?

"Eriol, you have to win Sakura back!" She said passionately.

"Excuse me?" He demanded, flabberghasted.

"That guy is no good. Sakura has dated him before... he broke her heart. He's the real reason I didn't want you to date her. She's already been through so much with him... I can't bear to see him do that to her again." Tomoyo explained.

"No offense, sis... but that's almost exactly what you said to me when you first found out I was going to join you at this school." Eriol reminded her, entirely unconvinced.

Tomoyo gripped him tighter, her eyes blazed with a similar emotion to the one she'd shown him when she'd told him to stay away from her friend. "You don't understand... he..."

"Look, I appreciate that you've finally figured out that this situation sucks... but the facts are that he's here and maybe he really is sorry about whatever happened before. Also, she forgave him... I can't just go and get her back now that she's got him. It wouldn't be right. Furthermore... she kind of hates me right now, and that is just as much my fault as it is yours." Eriol summed up for her, looking irritated.

"Then what we need to do is get you alone with her. Get her to realize that she really is in love with you and whatever happened before doesn't matter." Tomoyo schemed. "Also, I bet you never told her that you don't have to marry Sierra... that is definitely something you need to tell her now."

"This isn't my problem anymore, Tomoyo!" Eriol snapped. Tomoyo let go of his shirt immediately, finally waking up to her brother's emotions, which were bordering on violent. Confused, she looked up at him and staggered back at the pain she found in his eyes.

"Eriol... I..." What had she done to her own brother?

"Enough... this conversation is over." He commanded regally, then turned and walked away.

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	6. Stone

The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials _S.K._

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

* * *

(Stone)

Tomoyo was alone in the middle of a war. On one side, her best friend in mortal peril (of getting her heart broken again, or worse) via an extremely untrustworthy Chinese ex-boyfriend... on the other side, her brother stuck in an emotional prison that she herself had made for him, yet did not have the key to get him out.

The only weapon she had left at her disposal didn't seem to be working on either of them... and that of course, was meddling. Neither of them would talk to her... and she had a feeling that they were ignoring her when she tried to talk to them.

She puzzled over her predicament for a few days, trying to come up with a solution as fast as possible... then it came to her. _'Well if neither of them are going to make any effort to see each other... then I'm going to have to create situations where they are together whether they like it or not.'_

And so she began her meddling. She helped the teacher schedule who would be paired with who when doing the classroom chores. She arranged for them to be alone together on field trips via bribes of her classmates and general refusal to leave Syaoran's side. She suggested to the art teachers a tutoring program where a student who was more skilled in, say dance... (like Eriol) would be paired up with students who were not so skilled, (like Sakura).

Nothing seemed to happen at first. They worked companionably side-by-side in the classroom without much conversation. During the field trips Sakura was much too excited exploring here, there, and everywhere that Eriol didn't really even notice everyone else had gone a different direction until it was too late, though he did manage to keep up with her (just in case something happened). Beginner level dancing was mostly practicing moves by oneself... and Sakura needed all the help she could get.

Slowly, however, small things began to change. Eriol brought in some pink flowers to decorate the classroom with, out of the blue. Sakura commented on how pretty they were and he handed one to her... which made her blush. Sakura reached for his hand and pulled him along as she raced forward into the great outdoors, pointing at things and smiling her contagious smile. When they went skiing in December, Sakura rescued him from crashing into headlong into a tree. They had spend the rest of the evening laughing about it, which annoyed the hell out of Syaoran.

And in the dance class...

* * *

"One-two-three, quick-quick-slow" Eriol muttered as he shadowed Sakura around the dance floor. She was starting to really pick up the steps that he was teaching her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and guided her through the movements. Sakura barely noticed this, as her eyes were mostly on her feet.

"Head up... you can't watch your feet forever..." Eriol teased, she lifted her head, blushing and tried the steps without making sure her feet were cooperating.

They were doing alright until she stepped oddly and tripped. Eriol grabbed her and in one fluid motion spun her into his arms, making it look as though she'd done that on purpose. She gasped for breath... gripping his shirt tightly while she waited for her equilibrium to return. Eriol chuckled softly and helped her get her feet back on the ground.

"S-sorry..." she muttered, her face bright red as she smoothed out his shirt as an apology for nearly tearing it in her panic.

Eriol smiled and reached out to still her fingers, "It's fine... don't worry about it. You're still learning."

Sakura blushed harder, "Yeah..."

Eriol studied her for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Well... I think that's enough for today."

"Oh... ok."

* * *

Later on Tomoyo caught up with Sakura on her way home.

"Hey, Sakura?" Tomoyo ran. Sakura stopped and waited, a real smile on her face for the first time in weeks.

"What's up Tomoyo?" She asked cheerfully.

"Hey listen... Eriol's got this ball coming up soon, since you are doing so well in your class now... I thought maybe you'd like to come?" Tomoyo asked curiously.

Sakura's smile fell, "I don't know if Syaoran would want to go... he's very good at dancing."

Tomoyo was ready for this response, "Oh... well actually I already asked him, and he said he'd love to go!" This was blatant lie... but Syaoran didn't have to know that.

"Really? Well if he's going I can go too!" Sakura beamed happily.

Tomoyo nodded in agreement, "I'll pick you up at your house?"

"Ok!" Sakura replied.

* * *

Eriol sat at the dinner table, clearly sulking again.

Tomoyo just smiled to herself, thinking of how easily she'd convinced Sakura to attend the upcoming ball.

"It's over..." he muttered, drawing her attention.

"Speaking to me again?" Tomoyo asked curiously.

He pushed away the salad he'd been picking at for the last half-hour and nodded.

"Alright, what's over?" Tomoyo asked, happy that her brother had finally decided to stop giving her the silent treatment.

"Everything." He answered in almost a whisper. "I'm almost eighteen... the upcoming ball is my last chance to find _her_ and if I don't I'll end up marrying..." he couldn't finish that sentence.

Tomoyo blinked. That was right... the ball was Eriol's birthday party, as it always had been since she could remember... and the rules said...

"It's... not over _entirely_." She reminded him. "The fine print said eighteen _or_ when the king dies, right? Technically you wouldn't _have_ to marry yet."

"That's not what dad tells the brides-to-be... and this is Sierra we're talking about. She won't wait another second if she can help it. She's probably already got our wedding planned out for the day after my birthday..." The thought made him want to vomit.

Crap... well he had a point there... king or not, Eriol was the most-sought-after bachelor on the royal female circuit. The fact that half of those women had dated him (and been dumped by him) didn't deter the other half from daydreaming about him and telling him at every opportunity why he should chose them as his future wife. And once the first deadline had passed Sierra would surely sink her manicured nails into him so fast he wouldn't even have the time to claim sanctuary before she dragged him up to the altar. Tomoyo was also relatively certain that if the King's life was the only thing standing in the way of Sierra Kindle becoming Sierra Hiiragizawa, that the southern princess probably would think nothing of calling up some hit-men to eliminate the problem...

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	7. The gateway to the heart

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials S.K.

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to update, this next chapter would not cooperate with me. XD

* * *

(The gateway to the heart)

The evening had begun as grandly as any of the others that had come before it. The mansion was cleaned thoroughly and every inch of it was decorated with all kinds of draperies, flowers and other such decorative items. The sorcerer and his wife greeted all the interested women, who had come for the occasion to dance with Eriol, at the door with practiced enthusiasm.

From his place on the floor above, he observed the throng of women as they danced with the men who had been invited to keep them entertained. In the years that this had been going on, his mother and father had discovered that older females got bored and left early if they had to wait all evening for a shot at dancing with Eriol, so they had begun also inviting wealthy bachelors to the party to keep them entertained. And, naturally, this had turned Eriol's yearly ball into quite the place to be. Most people kept it on their calendars simply because it was a fun thing to do, others had found love (albiet not with him) and were forever grateful to Eriol's birthday and his parent's ball for helping them find one another.

Spotting a bit of pink and orange roaming through the crowd, Eriol immediately searched for the closest path out of the mansion that would take him in the opposite direction she was headed.

Once outside on the terrace, Eriol gripped the marble railing in both hands and leaned against it. Closing his eyes, he savored the cool feel of it beneath his palms and the gentle evening breeze as it gently tousled his hair.

"Happy Birthday?"

It was more of a question than a salutation, but the warm, familiar, voice attached to it swept up Eriol's mood so fast it nearly made him dizzy. Smiling, he opened one of his eyes and peeked out at Sakura, looking very silly as he did so.

"Heh... is it that obvious that I'm unhappy?" He replied kindly, truly touched that she seemed to have noticed his distress.

Sakura shrugged, smiling back and joining him out on the terrace. He took the moment to appreciate what she was wearing. A purely white gown that seemed to be shaped like a many-petaled flower at the base laced with a light pink down the collar and at the edges of her sleeves, finished off with a similarly pink ribbon that was wrapped around her waist, trailing down the length of her dress.

"Well, I know if it were my birthday, I certainly wouldn't be avoiding my well-wishers and party guests. So what is it that's got you down on this special day?" She asked curiously.

Sighing heavily he turned away from her and glanced out into the gardens that surrounded the mansion. In doing so, his eyes were shaded from view by his long bangs and glasses. "Today is my last day as a free man..." he trailed.

Abruptly, Sakura recalled the day that he had introduced her to Sierra and immediately felt a sharp twist of pain in her heart.

_'Has it been a year already?'_ she thought miserably a moment before the pain subsided and a new realization hit her.

_'Wait, he's unhappy about this?'_ Where had this emotion been when she had been desperately trying to get it out of him all that time ago?

"Shouldn't... shouldn't that be even more of a reason for celebration?" She asked, a flicker of hope awakening in her heart.

Eriol shook his head, "I don't love her... but I don't have a choice either. Today's it, the last day... if I don't find a... suitable replacement... by tonight, then tomorrow I'll be hers forever."

_'He... he doesn't love her!'_ Sakura's heart sang with glee. Briefly she thought of Syaoran, whom she had not seen at all yet that evening, and wondered about her own personal issues. How could it be that she was so happy Eriol was so unhappy... yet have clearly promised herself to another man?

_'Well, I only promised to give him a second chance.'_ She reasoned to herself. _'Besides... I don't feel this way anymore for him...'_

"So... the solution to your problem is simple! Pick a replacement." Sakura teased.

Eriol removed himself from the railings and stood, turning to glance at her, unamused... though only for a moment, as in the presence of her adorable smile he couldn't help but laugh along with her.

"If only it were that simple." He held out his arm for her to take, unexpectedly. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Surprised, she blushed at the gesture, but eventually couldn't help but take his arm. Slowly, he led her away from the mansion. Away from the throng of party-goers and into the expansive gardens. As they went, Sakura couldn't help but be impressed at the variety of flora that was arranged ever so perfectly at every turn they made. The further in they went, however, the stranger Sakura felt.

_'I... I recognize this place. Why should I recognize this place?'_ She thought as she realized she was experiencing familiarity with the tall vine-covered walls.

All of the sudden, the walls gave way to the only part of the garden that was not immaculately kept.

Sakura looked upon the clearing in confusion, observing the dusty cobblestone path that curved up the small hill to a bridge that looked as though the paint had been peeling off of it for decades. On either side of the path, dried out dirt patches that looked like they might have once held a grassy field saddened the appearance of the area even more. But the worst part of it was the withered looking tree that bent over the dried-out pond.

Sakura withdrew her arm from his and walked up the cobblestone path, looking around and trying to figure out why this part of the gardens should be so... sad-looking in comparison to everywhere else. Still, even in it's depressing state... there was something extremely familiar about it, but Sakura simply couldn't put her finger on it.

Turning to him with the question in her eyes, she ran her hand along the old bridge's railing. "What happened here?"

Eriol glanced upon it sadly, "Once... a long time ago, I met a little girl here. I was too young at the time to realize it, but I had fallen in love with her. Every year I have not found her, this place has grown even more depressing... as though the very magic of our meeting is the only thing that gave it purpose... and without her that magic does not exist. I have searched everywhere for a clue... the slightest hint that she was real and that I might love again... but not a single girl has proved to be the one, and tomorrow... tomorrow I suspect that it will disintegrate entirely."

Memories stirred in the back of Sakura's mind... a beautiful clearing... a tree with her name... a dance between two youngsters...

Frowning with the confusion of her thoughts, Sakura walked back to Eriol's side and felt his agony. "That's awful... I wish there were something I could do. A place as beautiful as this one probably was shouldn't look so sad."

Eriol nodded in agreement, sharing his despair. They stood there, side-by-side for a moment, before a vague memory fluttered through Eriol's mind.

_"Dance with me!"_

It was a ridiculous idea... and Eriol couldn't believe he'd thought of it. Now that it was in his head though, for some reason he couldn't get it out. Looking thoughtful, he turned to Sakura and bowed, extending out his hand.

"Dance with me?" He asked quietly, echoing the memory that had assailed him.

"What? Are you kidding?" Sakura replied, her face turning red at his gesture. Her heart pounded in her ears... what was wrong with her?

Eriol blinked at her response... it was so familiar... like a pre-programmed script.

Smiling, he wiggled his eyebrows in an obvious challenge. "Come on, I promise I don't bite."

Sakura grew even more flustered at his insistence. "There isn't even any music..."

"Don't worry about that." He pressed, acting out this feeling that had possessed him.

Finally, after shifting uncertainly on her feet a few moments she took his hand and let him sweep her up into his arms.

"I... I'm not very good at this..." She stammered as a last resort.

Smiling gently he shook his head and arranged their arms appropriately, "You'll be fine."

Before she could argue again, he had begun to move, whisking her along the cobblestone path as though the most enchanting melody were playing in the background...

And then, Sakura realized, there was one!

It had been quiet at first, like a ghost... then as he continued to maneuver them expertly through the surroundings, it grew progressively louder. Astounded, Sakura found herself moving with him to the beat of the familiar song, it's haunting beauty touching a place deep within her heart that she had forgotten about long ago.

As they danced, out of the corner of her eyes Sakura could see the surroundings bursting into color. She checked to see if Eriol had noticed it too, then immediately drowned in the look of pure emotion she found on the surface of his face.

Truly, for Eriol, none of the magic blossoming around them could have distracted him from the pure and powerful magic that was seeping into his very being. The dance had started off as a joke, a funny idea that had just popped into his head...

But now...

Now with her in his arms he could not ignore the pull of his heart as it beat in time with their steps. It was like his entire body was on fire... and he was powerless to resist allowing it to encompass his very being.

_'This is it...'_ He thought vaguely, barely even able to manage self-reflection when it was abundantly clear to him exactly what his body was telling him, what the magic was singing through his veins. _'This is what I have been waiting for... she... she is the one.'_

"E-Eriol..." She stammered uncertainly as the song came to an end. A quick glance around told her that the magic had come back into the clearing... and it was truly a sight to behold... but now nothing could distract her from the fact that the young mage was sinking to one knee before her on the bridge that overlooked the lake.

"Sakura..." He whispered passionately, his eyes, for once, reflecting the pure and true feelings of the love he felt in his heart. "Sakura, listen to me... I..." he laughed at himself for stammering, "I have been waiting so long for this moment, and now that it's here..."

Sakura's heart pounded loudly in her ears. She could not ignore the look in his eyes, nor could she fail to notice the powerful feelings rushing through her own veins. And above all, the one thing that was abundantly clear as the prince produced a small dark blue velvet box from one of his coat pockets... was that Sakura was certain that she loved this man, and had loved him for a very long time.

Clearing his throat, he opened the small velvet box, revealing in it's depths a small engagement ring. Sakura breathed sharply in surprise. Nestled in the white interior was a ring of pure white gold. Set into the ring, a baby pink diamond about the size of her smallest toe nail sat enshrined in a star-shaped setting, flanked by two white gold wings on either side of the diamond.

"Sakura Kinomoto... would you do me the amazing honor, of becoming my wife?" Eriol asked quietly, his grey eyes flashing with the sincerity of his plea.

Choking back her tears of joy, Sakura reached out to take the ring from it's box... when all of the sudden a dark and terrible feeling halted all of her senses. Suddenly, she couldn't control herself at all anymore, as though she were a puppet... and someone else her puppeteer. Coldly, she reached forward and snapped the box shut, surprising Eriol greatly.

"Sorry, but I just remembered... I have to be going." Sakura snarled furiously.

Confused and hurt, Eriol scrambled to his feet. "Wait, I don't understand!"

Turning her nose up at him, she spun on her heels, "The answer is no... and don't you dare come looking for me again!" She yelled angrily, then stomped out of the clearing.

As soon as it had come, the magic of the area vanished, lapsing back into the sad state it had been in when they had first approached it.

"Sakura! Sakura, wait!" Eriol cried, racing after her. But she was too fast... and was out of sight faster than he thought possible. Caught up in his emotions, he hadn't realized how close he'd come to a large fountain and slipped carelessly on some water that had coated the nearby stones, causing him to crash headlong into the cold water.

"Sakura..." Eriol sputtered, dragging himself out of the fountain and collapsing drenched onto the cobblestones below. His wet and bedraggled state was appropriate for the way he was feeling at the moment...

"Sakura... " He whispered dejectedly, then, in spite of himself, he spent the rest of the night crying quietly in the garden.

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	8. Sierra

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , _Flashback_ , ' _thoughts_ ', " Dialogue " _/Telepathy/_

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials S.K.

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

Author's Note:

Midnight Leo: Thank you so much for reviewing... in answer to your question; I produce this chapter. XD (Not that I wasn't going to do it anyway)

Yuki: Thank you so much! *hugs and gives you a cookie* I'm going to be out of town though for a few days... but I'll look forward to a lot of reviews when I get back. Lol!

Chapter revision note: 8/21/2011 (Thanks Yuki)

* * *

(Sierra)

Sakura stomped on auto-pilot, her mind racing a thousand miles an hour. What was it that was possessing her right now? Why had she formed those accursed words with her lips... how could she have crushed Eriol like that, when it was the exact opposite of what she'd been planning to do?

Eventually her body came to a stop in a small, empty room of the mansion. Confused, she stood there for a moment before someone slipped into the room behind her and began to laugh.

"Ahahah... I'm so glad I decided to keep an eye on you."

Sakura blinked, incapable of commenting as Sierra walked into her view, the southern princess smiling brightly , like a cat who was up to something.

"Tsk, tsk, Sukuruh, honey. You should know bettah than to try to steal another woman's man." She drawled, crossing her arms and looking amused.

_'He's not your man, he doesn't even love you.'_ Sakura thought indignantly, wishing she could comment.

"Nevermind that though, I had a feeling you'd be trouble the day I met you. That's why I put a spell on you... it's been on you this whole time, relaying everything that you've been saying to him, and everything he's been saying to you. Tonight, when I heard him propose... well I just had to put a stop to that. It'd ruin everything, you see." Sierra explained. "That's why I immediately used another spell to turn you into my puppet. For the next 24 hours you will not be able to say or do anything I don't tell you to say or do. That aught to give me more than enough time to get married before the spell wears off. Just in case you try and do something else to ruin it for me."

_'24 hours?...!'_ Sakura thought in despair.

"I've spent a lot of time planning this out, Sukuruh honey... that's why I can't let you ruin it. You might be wondering why I don't just put a spell on Eriol, seeing as I can do magic and all. Well, I'll tell you... Eriol's magic is a lot stronger than mine. Any spell I could try to put on him wouldn't last very long, even if it did penetrate through his defenses. But as long as he's convinced he has to marry me, he will. See, I need a powerful man in my life... so I can be a princess forever. Daddy's money isn't going to last me much longer, then I'd have to be common, you see... and I just won't stand for that. I've had money all my life, little girl, and I'm just not cut out to be plain like you."

Sakura's heart pounded loudly in her ears, and if she could, she would have been demanding that the girl see reason. How could anyone be so selfish and self-centered as this girl was beyond her. Didn't she know that marriage was something shared between two people who loved each other? Not just the quickest way to fame and fortune? Sierra, Sakura was certain, must have never had real love in her life, to behave in such a vindictive and self-absorbed manner.

"Now then, I know you've been wondering about your little friend Syaoran..."

_'Syaoran... what on Earth would this girl know about Syaoran...?'_

"Well, it's my obligation to tell you that he didn't come back to confess his love for you, like you think. You see, when I was introduced to you, I did a little bit of a background check and found out all about your fling with this chinese boy."

Sakura's heart stopped in her chest... what could this possibly mean? Of course Syaoran wanted her back... that was what he had said... right?

"Naturally, I needed a way to distract you, if I could, from Eriol. And it worked for a while... though I must admit it was highly irritating to have to go and bewitch him every single day. Then again, when you've got someone under your power, it isn't hard to force them back into your presence. Hehe!"

So Syaoran had been under Sierra's spell too? Sakura couldn't help but pity him... here he'd probably spent a lot of money taking a plane to Japan, and all because of this girl's mind games!

"Anyways, he was never interested in coming back for you... he has a fiancee back home. Imagine that. So, since I'm not planning on re-spelling him tonight, I'll let you go to him as this girl he's going to marry and have a little fun with that."

_'What?'_ Sakura panicked as Sierra wiggled her finger in the air. A strange tingling sensation swept over her body... then Sakura found herself looking in a nearby mirror.

Shock overcame her as she observed her new appearance. Long black hair done up in chinese-style pigtails... bright red eyes and a pretty face... Sakura realized she no longer looked like herself at all. She wasn't even wearing her white dress anymore, but instead a very lovely red sequined gown that reached all the way down to her ankles and hugged her borrowed figure.

"Perfect, now then..." Sierra said, pulling out a small black book and opening it to a page. "Your name is Meilin, and you love Syaoran with all of your heart. You're going to go to him and insist he take you back home where you belong. Of course, if he wants to just stay home with you, that's fine too. As long as neither of you attend my wedding tomorrow, I really don't care what you do!" Sierra laughed as Sakura's body nodded quietly in understanding.

_'Oh god no...' _Sakura panicked in her mind as her feet automatically began taking her wherever it was she'd just been ordered to go. _'No! No! No! I've got to find someway to stop this... please... don't make me do this.'_ She thought as she left the mansion and headed for the airport.

* * *

The night came to an end, and quiet returned to the mansion. Eriol stood before his mother and father, dry-eyed and dry-clothed, ready to accept what was expected of him.

"Did you find her?" His father asked hopefully, searching his son's face for a response.

"I'm afraid not." Eriol replied smoothly, his glass-like demeanor unsettling... but still not really giving away the truth of the matter even to a trained eye.

"It appears you took the time to resign yourself to this..." His mother noticed quietly.

The sorcerer frowned, and had to agree with her assessment. Something was definitely off, but his son had placed an amazingly impenetrable shield around his true feelings... and so there was no telling what the real truth was.

"Then we shall summon Sierra in the morning and by tomorrow you shall be wed." His father said.

Nodding his head in acceptance of this, Eriol left the presence of his parents, walking with his head high. His parents watched him leave with no small amount of concern. The sorcerer had known that the boy didn't want to marry Sierra Kindle for as long as they'd been engaged... but he also realized that some sense of propriety must have settled with him, and so he would marry her, simply because it was required of him.

"He doesn't have to accept this... why does he do it?" Sonomi asked, worried for the sake of her step-son.

"I will talk with him..." The sorcerer replied. It was one thing to have his son marry because it was required... and quite another to force him into something that was clearly not in his interest. Also, the sorcerer couldn't help but think that Eriol was hiding something about finding his true love... and that was a very dangerous thing to do... if the sorcerer's hunch was correct.

* * *

Back on the roof, Eriol mulled over the events of the past few hours in silence. Now, with a clear head, he looked at what had happened back in that clearing from every angle and tried to riddle it out.

Something was wrong... he could feel it. After the magic had brought that place back... after that song, that little Sakura had sung all those years ago had been played... after his emotional plea that she end his suffering...

And that second, that precious second, right before she had snapped the box closed in his fingers... he could have sworn...

"Are you sure you're alright with this?"

Eriol didn't bother to turn and acknowledge his father's presence. There was really no point in being surprised that he'd been sought out and discovered, this was the sorcerer's house... after all... and no one could hide from such power.

"I'd like to be alone right now, if you don't mind." Eriol replied respectfully.

The sorcerer ignored his request and sat down on the roof tiles beside his son. "What about this girl, the friend of your sister? I thought I'd helped you realize you were in love with her..."

"Yeah, well... I guess the feeling wasn't mutual." Eriol replied noncommittally.

After a few moments of silence in which the sorcerer tried to pry the truth out of his son using magic, he gave up.

"Fine, but you aught to know... there was nothing ever worth having, that wasn't also worth fighting for."

"Trying to tell me that marrying Sierra will be the easy way out of my problem?" Eriol queried.

The sorcerer shrugged and smiled kindly at his son, "Not at all. Actually, I believe that will make things far more difficult."

Surprised at his father's candor, he turned at last in an effort to ask him more questions, but his father had left. Alone once again, Eriol pondered this new riddle.

* * *

After a long plane flight and a quick ride in a taxi (Sakura paid for this with money probably given to her by Sierra) Sakura wandered down the familiar streets of her hometown. It was well past midnight in Tomoeda and she passed several sleeping communities as she went. At last she came up to the apartment where Syaoran had stayed the last time he had been in Japan. Sakura felt like breaking down in tears as she knocked on the door, her foot tapping impatiently in what she guessed must have been the natural action of the girl's appearance she was borrowing.

The door opened to reveal a tired-looking brunet who looked wary at first, as though he was not entirely certain he aught to have even opened the door, then his expression shifted to relief.

"Meilin... oh Meilin!" He cried happily, dropping his grip on the door frame and sweeping her in a tight hug.

"Don't 'oh Meilin' me Li Syaoran." Sakura's voice came out in a no-nonsense tone, clearly her voice had been enchanted also, since she could tell she sounded nothing like herself. "You left home to come here, with no good-bye, no explanation... no NOTHING!" Wow... whoever this Meilin was, she sure was loud!

"Meilin, I'm so sorry... but... I'm just so happy to see you. How did you get here anyway?" Syaoran said, still hugging her even though she was struggling in his grip.

Sakura/Meilin scoffed, but softened... looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, when you didn't come home I begged your mom to let me come after you..."

Syaoran released her and looked mortified, "You told my mother?"

Shuffling slightly, the chinese girl nodded, "Sorry about that." The Sakura within wondered suddenly what had actually happened to this Meilin... had Sierra bewitched her also? Or perhaps she'd merely been kidnapped? If she could worm her way out of this spell, she'd be sure to tell Syaoran her suspicions, since he obviously cared about this girl.

Sighing, he stood aside to let her in. "Well, I guess there's nothing to be done about it now. Come in, you must be exhausted from the flight. Nice dress by the way..."

Meilin's smile brightened and she twirled a little for show. "Oh you like it? I bought it just for you."

Syaoran shook his head and sighed, seeming to be amused by the idea.

"So... can we go home now then?" Meilin asked, peering around the immaculate apartment for anything she could start packing.

Syaoran frowned, stopping her in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" She asked immediately, walking back over to him as he shut the door.

"Meilin... we can't leave. Not yet."

"Why?"

Syaoran's brown eyes burned as they looked into her own. "Because... because there is a crazy woman about to become the Queen of England..."

So he knew! Well, Sakura didn't find herself unable to remember what was going on at the moment, just incapable of doing anything to stop it.

Her body, however, which had been specifically instructed to keep either of them from attending the wedding immediately reacted. "So? Why is that your problem?"

"You don't understand... she... she is a sorceress. She bewitched me into coming here in the first place. I can't just let that go unpunished. No one is allowed to do that to the next head of the Li Clan. Also, the reason she brought me here... there is a girl I dated here in Japan before I even knew you... I fear she is in great danger..."

_'I don't know about that... but distress, certainly.'_ Sakura thought, amused that he was concerned for her sake.

"A girl? This is about a girl you used to like? But I thought you loved me?" There were tears in her eyes.

Syaoran sighed and took the black-haired girl in his arms. "Meilin, you have to trust me... it's not that I like her or anything, that was a long time ago. But the sorceress brought me here because she knew of our past together, and I myself just broke out of the trance she put me under. Who's to say that she's not doing something horrible to the girl now that I'm out of her power. It did seem very important to her that this girl be stopped from... doing something the sorceress didn't want... at all costs."

_'Yes... she wanted to stop me from marrying Eriol.'_ Sakura agreed in her mind. _'Oh, but Syaoran, how I wish I could tell you that it's not me who is in danger... but Eriol himself...'_

"You liar!" Meilin cried, struggling once again to get out of Syaoran's grasp. "You really came here to get your old girlfriend back... you don't want to come home with me at all!"

"How can I prove to you that I am telling the truth?" Syaoran demanded in despair, trying to keep the girl from escaping. "If there is something I can do... then I will do it." He swore softly, calming the irate chinese girl.

Reaching a hand out, Meilin touched Syaoran's face, surprising him. "Kiss me... kiss me, and I will know that you are telling the truth. You cannot hide from me in your kiss..."

_'Oh no!' _Sakura panicked. _'I can't kiss Syaoran! No... but... wait, why would the sorceress make it such a simple thing to please this girl? There must be some kind of catch...'_

Chuckling softly as though Syaoran had also thought that kissing was far to simple a price to pay for Meilin's trust, he leaned forward, taking her hands in his own. "Is that all? You're sure?"

"And make a vow." Meilin added after a moment of thought, blushing softly. "Make a vow that you will love me forever. Oh, and you have to promise to come home with me."

"After I complete my task?" Syaoran raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes." Meilin agreed. This... there had to be more to it than just words... Sakura was sure of it.

_/You think? There might be more to it indeed, little girl./ _Laughed Sierra's voice in her mind. Surprised by hearing the sorceresses voice in her mind, Sakura barely noticed as Syaoran knelt to one knee and swore his undying devotion to her.

_/This is what I like to call a magic chain. Once he has sealed his vow to you with a kiss, the innate magic of such a vow will fuse his heart to you. This will effectively destroy the link he has with his current fiancee and she will, regrettably, die without him. Her death will set off the next link in the chain, which will, of course, end with you becoming her permanently. I will steal your heart right before that happens, and use it's power to draw Eriol to myself, since his heart is already linked with yours... it will make our marriage a much simpler transition. He will be powerless to resist me when I am in possession of your heart... and then he will be mine at last./_

_'You vile, vile woman!'_ Sakura thought angrily, though her anger rapidly turned to despair as she realized Syaoran was getting up from his vow to seal it with a kiss as he'd promised.

_'No! No, you can't do this! Syaoran, you don't want to do this!'_ Sakura thought desperately as he reached for her, his arms wrapping her delicately around the shoulders and drawing her close.

_/**NO!**/_

Syaoran's lips were mere centimeters from Sakura's, when a single word reverberated through his head, causing him to reel backwards, dropping his arms from Meilin. Blinking in surprise, he frowned, running a head through his chocolate-brown locks and shaking his head.

Where had that voice come from? He wondered as he stared at his fiancee who was looking decidedly disappointed, and on the verge of breaking down again.

"Hey! You didn't kiss me!" She cried indignantly. "I knew it! You don't love me!"

Tuning her out a moment, Syaoran focused his magic on the source of the sound, trying to locate it's owner... but all he was getting was a strange magic trail that led to... Meilin? But... his finacee had no magic at all...

_/Hello?/_ He tried, sending the message back from whence the one he'd recieved had come.

_/Syaoran... Syaoran! Can you hear me?/_ The voice answered. The reply was so weak though, that the young man had trouble concentrating on it, especially with Meilin crying and stomping around the room as loudly as she could.

_/Who is this?/_ Syaoran asked curiously.

_/Syaoran, it's Sakura!/_

_/Sakura!/_ Syaoran was astounded... since when did Sakura have magical powers? _/How are you talking to me right now... where are you? What's wrong?/_ Now he was looking around for ideas on how to escape his sometimes difficult girlfriend. If Sakura was contacting him via telepathy... then something had to be really wrong.

_/I don't know how I'm doing it... but listen, whatever you do DO NOT kiss Meilin!/_ Sakura thought with glee, wondering why it was she was suddenly able to communicate with Syaoran when she hadn't been able to before.

_'Well, I hadn't really been trying before... this was kind of an emergency. Still, that doesn't explain why I can suddenly do it. Maybe I always could...'_ She thought idly.

_/Don't kiss.../_ Syaoran blinked at the girl who was making a nuisance out of herself and frowned. Summoning the magic in his blood, he pulled out an ofuda, then before she noticed it, flung it out at her. She gave a surprised squeal as it hit her directly in the center of her forehead, then another surprised gasp as a magical current zapped through her veins, eliminating the illusory magic it found there.

Syaoran stood dumbfounded as the girl he'd been about to kiss transformed from his fiancee into Sakura!

"Sakura!" He shouted, amazed as he knelt down beside her to remove the ofuda. "Sakura, can you speak to me? Say something."

"Syaoran! Why aren't you promising to come home with me? Why don't you love me anymore?" It was Sakura's voice... but still the words she'd been saying as Meilin.

_/I... I still can't move./_ Came the shaky reply.

"Who did this to you?" Syaoran demanded, slapping the ofuda back on the girl's head since it was paralyzing her... and keeping her quiet was making it a lot easier for him to hear her.

_/The sorceress... Syaoran you have to stop her!/_ Sakura begged, her voice getting stronger in spite of the scroll.

Syaoran sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't help... clearly her magic is stronger than my own, facing her would do nothing except perhaps put me back under her spell. I'm glad you're safe, though. I think as long as you are here, nothing bad can happen... especially now since you are away from her influence. This spell of hers has to wear off some time."

_/But Syaoran! You have to try! I don't know much about Meilin... but if Sierra sent me to you in her form then she must have her somewhere. Don't you think? If this Meilin would have been anything like the girl I was impersonating, then she certainly came after you, just as I said she did!/_

Syaoran's blood ran cold. "Meilin... you're right... she definitely would have come after me."

_/This crazy girl will stop at nothing to become the next Queen of England, just like you said! Her plan, up until now, was to get you to make that stupid vow and kiss me so that she could steal my heart and force Eriol to marry her with it... I'm sure she knows by now that her plan failed, but I seriously doubt she doesn't have a plan b./_

"But what can I do? What if I try to stop her and she ends up bewitching me again." Syaoran asked, sitting down beside Sakura's immobile form.

Sakura thought about the problem for a while, but came up with no solution. _/Well, maybe if we sleep on it we will come up with something... but something has to be done. And today is the wedding!/_

Syaoran frowned for a while in contemplation, but eventually could see no way other than the one Sakura had given. "Alright... some sleep will restore my strength. Maybe we'll think of something later." He agreed.

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	9. The bell's last toll

The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , _Flashback_ , _' thoughts'_, " Dialogue " _/Telepathy/_

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T - (May change rating later)

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials _S.K._

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

Author's Note: Yuki, to answer your question... Eriol and Tomoyo have been staying in Tomoeda for the school season, but went back home to London for his birthday party. XD As for the confusing-ness of Sakura's return to Tomoeda, when she was clearly in London (and therefore could not walk home) I fixed the previous chapter in your honor. :)

* * *

(The bell's last toll)

The day of the wedding was a huge event. Eriol had been right to think that Sierra had somehow managed to plan the whole thing behind his back. However, since he'd put up no fight the entire day, Tomoyo figured she wouldn't be reading any royal obituaries any time soon. The only thing off so far was the fact that his father had told him that he wasn't going to attend the wedding.

_"What do you mean, you're not going?"_ Eriol had asked him.

The sorcerer had simply frowned at his son and shook his head. _"I cannot watch you throw away your heart."_

Eriol sighed as he fidgeted with the ebony bow that was currently trying to strangle him. _'Hmph... what does he know anyway?"_

Still, as he stood there making the finishing touches on his hair in the mirror of the men's bathroom, Eriol couldn't help but wonder if the old man knew more than he let on. Maybe the scene replaying in his mind from the previous evening was something he'd concocted out of his own misery. Hell, maybe the whole evening had never happened at all. What if she'd said yes, but he'd been so certain of her refusal that he'd imagined the furious answer he received. Somehow, it was too real to be something he'd invented on his own. Too real even to be a dream he might have had.

But then, if the no had been real... then how could the rest of it had been real? Had he been dreaming their dance in the courtyard? Had he imagined seeing the world bursting to life around them? Had he somehow misread the passion of the moment... been so desperate for a release from his fate that he'd wanted her to love him as much as he imagined he loved her?

Both of these scenarios could not exist together. Eriol was certain of that much... but which one had been the fake? At the time, he'd assumed it had been the former... simply because somewhere in the back of his mind he had remembered all of the things Tomoyo had ever said about his exploits and in that moment he realized that she had to have been right. Somehow Sakura had finally seen reason and had seen him for who his sister believed he was.

_'But that doesn't make sense either. Why would she have come to such a realization -right then-?'_ The world turned on it's head for a moment, and Eriol glanced into his own thoughtful grey eyes.

_'If she hadn't loved me... then why hadn't she quit sooner? Why did she let me lead her out into the courtyard in the first place?'_ It didn't add up.

Pondering these thoughts, he made his way to the altar, his heart heavy with his confusion. Well-wishers tried to get his attention, but he just couldn't stand the sight of their smiling faces. Couldn't they see how wrong it was for him to be marrying Sierra of all people? Even if he couldn't have Sakura... he'd rather marry anyone than...

The bells rang throughout the church, scattering his thoughts. Blinking, he looked towards the archway just as the pianist began to play the wedding march. Thinking he was delirious a moment, Eriol looked at Sierra but didn't see her... in the pink and white gown she had chosen, his mind conjured Sakura's image on top of hers as she made her way down the aisle. Only when she had become level with him, did his vision seem to adjust and he saw her blond, not brown, hair, and her blue, not green, eyes.

She smiled brilliantly at him as he took her hand, still blinking at her as though he'd never really seen her before. Why was it, he wondered, that he was having so much trouble today. Sierra seemed to sparkle, her hand in his was soft, like an angel's feather. As the minister began the introductions, Eriol had trouble ordering his thoughts. What on earth was wrong with him? Why couldn't he focus? Was it some kind of bizarre irony that just as he'd been unable to think of anything but Sakura moments before, now all of the sudden Sierra's image was fluttering relentlessly through his mind?

* * *

Syaoran had spent the better part of the morning trying everything in his power to take Sakura along with him on the plane back to England... but not even a thousand ofuda scrolls could keep her body (still under Sierra's spell) from thrashing madly each time he tried it. Finally, with a bit of mental convincing from her, he left her sealed up in his apartment with a promise to return and release her when he'd successfully stopped the wedding.

_/I will try and get in touch with Eriol and let him know you are coming... but no promises./_ Sakura telepathed as he ran, flagging down a taxi and praying along with her that he would make it on time...

* * *

Eriol was rigid beside his bride-to-be, unable to comprehend what was going through his mind. Something was wrong... something was very, very wrong. He should not be having this level of difficulty focusing. It didn't make any sense at all that Sierra and only Sierra was occupying his current thoughts... but even thinking that was difficult.

"Do you, Sierra Kindle, take this man, Eriol, to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do you part?"

"I do." Sierra flashed a brilliant smile at him and turned to face him, squeezing his hand in reassurance as the vow was repeated for him.

"I..." _'Sierra... but Sakura... and...'_ He couldn't think straight.

"Eriul?" Sierra blinked, looking concerned. Suddenly, Eriol's mind was clear. And in the clearness he noticed the subtle traces of magic having just released him from their spell.

_'Magic? Who here can do magic besides for me? Is it possible there is someone else here who wants this wedding as badly as Sierra does?'_ He wondered as the minister repeated the question.

"Eriul, honey... say somethin'." She whispered nervously.

He stared at her a moment, then he withdrew his hand from hers and shook his head, his clarity of thought allowing him to realize something he aught to have noticed a lot sooner.

_'What does it matter whether Sakura said no or not? I love her... and I will do anything to be with her...'_

"I'm sorry, Sierra. I can't do this." He bowed, truly apologetic. After all, it wasn't every day he broke a promise... and he _had_ promised to marry this woman (assuming there was no other in his life) whether she irritated him or not.

"W-what? What do you mean you can't do this?" Sierra stammered, truly surprised. In all the years she'd known him, Eriol had never once broken a promise. Though she'd known he didn't like her, and that any normal person in his position would have gotten rid of her long ago, it was because she'd stayed with him that he'd always stayed with her. It was his way, and she'd been counting on it as her plan C. (Plan B had been the illusions she'd been using on his mind only a few moments before... though he didn't know that, clearly they hadn't worked either)

Well... so much for Plan C, she supposed as he took one of her gloved hands and kissed it. "I am truly sorry, Sierra... but I cannot marry you, for you see... I love another." He told her honestly, looking up at her with his tormented grey eyes. There was silence for a few precious moments as Sierra very nearly changed her mind. Could she really move forward with her fiendish plan D? He looked so vulnerable and in love... how could she, in her right mind, refuse such an earnest plea for release? She almost couldn't do it... almost... but then she remembered what she wanted, and how she'd promised herself she'd do anything to get it...

Firming up her resolve she sighed and slid her hand out of his, returning his apologetic glance. Really, in her own way, she was sorry that she was going to have to go through with this...

"Ahm sorry too... Eriul..." She whispered gently, and for a moment Eriol thought she was actually on the same page that he was on.

"Ahm sorry... that I have to do this..." Coldly, she rose one hand into the air and snapped her fingers. The sound, though it aught to have been muffled by her gloves, blasted outwards like the sound of a shot being fired from a gun. A wave of powerful energy swept the room and Eriol staggered backwards in surprise. He blinked to get his bearings, then realized what she had done.

"You... you're a sorceress?" He commented, completely thrown off by this development.

"'Fraid so, Eriul honey." She smirked, twirling her fingers in the air as he observed her first spell.

"What have you done?" He gasped as he observed the frozen audience. Each person stopped in place... was it a time spell? Just how powerful was she?

"Don't worry about them... they're fine. Besides... I think you'll be more interested in _her._"

Eriol's eyes swiveled to observe the translucent, violet-colored crystal that was descending to Sierra's left. Where it had come from, Eriol had no idea, but that wasn't really his biggest problem right now. His biggest problem was that Sakura was suspended within it.

"Sierra... what?" Eriol couldn't find the words to speak... shock, despair, and fury overcame him as he stared upon Sakura's immobile form within her incorporeal prison.

* * *

There was no way any of the airplanes were going to make it on time. Syaoran had checked and double checked with the airport, but 'Fast, Emergency Plane' didn't seem to be on their list anywhere as a possibility. He stepped out of the airport and contemplated his problem on the bustling street, people generally paying him no mind.

Well, if regular travel couldn't get him there fast enough... then he was going to have to work with the magical variety. He ran to the nearest street corner with the fewest people milling about (mostly so they wouldn't get caught in the aftermath of his spell, not to hide the magic that he was about to use from them) and withdrew a half a dozen golden colored ofudas from his pockets. Praying to his ancestors that this would work, he quickly set all of them in the shape of a slithering serpent along the sidewalk, then asked those that were walking nearby to take a few steps back.

"God of thunder, hear my call..." He whispered, drawing out The Five Force Sword and placing the hilt of the blade where the serpent's eyes would have been, the silver blade seeming to arch alongside the curving ofudas on the ground as they sparked to life. Syaoran closed his eyes, concentrating on the pull of the electricity, drawing it out from the paper spread out beneath him. He made a few gestures with his hands, each one of them a piece of the spell he was weaving. As he stood there chanting under his breath, he could feel the lightning cackling around his calves... the flow of electrical energy continued to get stronger. And then, just when Syaoran thought he might have done the spell incorrectly, he heard an odd hissing sound. Opening his eyes, he found himself straddling the backside of a giant golden serpent, a single silver stripe marking a path down it's backside, right where the sword itself had been moments before.

The snake lifted it's gigantic golden head and eyed Syaoran with a pair of ruby colored eyes. (The same gemstones that had been embedded into the hilt of his blade)

"To... England, please." Syaoran managed, wondering of the great beast would obey his command. It blinked a moment, as though deciding whether to obey him, or to eat him... then turned it's mighty head around, giving Syaoran only a second to grab tight to it's slippery, scaly, hide, before it blasted off into the air, leaving sparks of crackling electricity in it's wake.

* * *

"Ah wish it didn't have to be this way Eriul, but the fact of the matter is, you have to marry me. Ahm not givin' you a choice." Sierra said as she gestured to the crystal.

Eriol cast a silent spell in an effort to steal Sakura away from Sierra without turning this into a huge fight... but the spell seemed to have had no effect on the girl floating in the prison.

"Hah, nice try honey... but this here prism has an anti-magic spell on it. Only I can set her free." Sierra cackled, smiling at Eriol as he stared at her in despair. "You're going to have to play this game by my rules. And my rules are, you need to finish what you started. You promised you'd marry me if no one else said yes to you... and even you would admit you've never broken a promise before. Why start now, honey? You need to marry me, or I will end this girl's life." Sierra explained.

"I could never marry you now." Eriol spat angrily, "You... witch!"

Sierra waggled a finger at him and giggled. "Now, now... don't be hasty. Hear me out..."

Eriol tried to focus on Sierra's speech about her plan for world domination and how he'd played a major role in it ever since her daddy convinced his that they aught to be together... except that a small voice interrupted. It was quiet at first, probing the back of his mind. Curious, he let down his mental barrier just a little, to figure out who was trying to mess with his mind now.

_/Eriol? Eriol... can you hear me? Eriol...?/_

Blinking, and forcing himself to glower some more at Sierra even though all he wanted to do was focus on the voice in his head, Eriol split his attention, giving Sierra all of his nodding and glaring... whilest giving the voice his mental attention...

_/Sakura... is that you?/ _He asked in disbelief. So she could use magic too! What a small world this was turning out to be.

_/Eriol! Oh thank heavens... wow, I must be really strong to reach you all the way over there.../_

Clearly, this was new to her. Her voice kept cutting in and out and by the sound of it... she was very unused to even attempting such a thing.

_/All the way over where? Sakura, are you alright? Clear your mind... show me, if you can.../_

_/Sorry, this is as good as it gets... I'm surprised I can even manage this much!/_ Her voice seemed to laugh, and he nearly smiled... though he caught himself and turned it into a grimace.

_/Listen, Eriol, whatever you do, you can't marry Sierra!/_

_/Yeah, I'd pretty much gathered that for myself, actually. But how can I refuse her? She'll kill you!/_

_/Kill me? Eriol I'm in no danger from her... I'm all the way in Japan! I don't think even you could kill me from there!/_

Japan? She was in Japan? How did that make any sense, when she was clearly right here, floating in that crystal?

_/You must be mistaken... I can see you quite clearly, you're right here... and Sierra's threatening to kill you if I don't marry her./_

_/Eriol, she's a master of illusion! What you see isn't what you think you see! I'd show you what I mean, but... well... I don't know if I can. Anyway, the girl she has there... she's probably... someone else. She can do that. She can make people say things they don't mean to say, and she can turn people into things they don't normally look like./_

Illusion magic? Then all of this was fake? Or was there really some innocent girl in that box of hers that simply had a spell on her to look like Sakura? The latter was more likely, which meant that Sierra's magic was not in fact very strong at all. Eriol focused on Sierra once more, narrowing his eyes as she finished her rant. How would he make her show herself to be a fraud?

_/Eriol... a friend is coming to help. Try to stall until he arrives./_

Stall? He could probably handle this himself... but he supposed any help he could have would probably be welcome. Sierra grinned at him expectantly, and Eriol thanked whatever gods existed that he was such a good actor...

Lowering his head dramatically, he clenched his fists. "Please... just don't hurt her." He said, his voice barely audible as it trembled.

Sierra flashed a diabolical sneer. "I won't, as long as you cooperate and don't try anything funny."

Lifting his head, tears dotted the corners of his eyes. "I can't believe this... that you went to all of this trouble just so that you could be a queen. Do my feelings mean nothing to you? Does what I want count for nothing at all? I may have thought you were irritating before... but do you really think this is helping your case?" He slowly got to his feet, true fury written on his features. "How can you think that taking Sakura hostage was a good idea? How can you believe that I could ever care for you now that you've done something so sinister."

"Ah thought Ah made it clear that Ah am willing to do just about anything to get what Ah want. Ah may have wanted your heart once, Eriul... but since it's been apparent that you've got no interest in giving it to me, Ah had to make other arrangements." Sierra said pointedly, gesturing to the prism again.

Eriol grit his teeth, steeling himself against believing the girl in the prism was Sakura. Then he had an idea, bowing his head and clenching his fists, he looked away from her. "And you will release her if I comply? Why should I believe you, since you are willing to go to such lengths?"

Sierra blinked, "Ah would have no reason to kill her if you married me Eriol. A promise is a promise, and marriage is a rather binding one..."

She was right about that... as much as he hated her now, his one crutch was that he refused to break a promise. He supposed that the reason he'd even tried it this one time was that somewhere inside of him, he'd known that Sakura's refusal had had to have been a lie, and so his conscience didn't believe that the promise was broken.

_'Till death do you part... there's no way out of such a vow...'_ Eriol mulled this over. Raising his head elegantly, he stood resolutely before her.

"Then prove it. If you don't mind. Release Sakura from your spell... and I promise I will marry you." Eriol stated firmly, inwardly knowing that there only one way that Sierra would be able to do such a thing. After all, he hadn't been talking about the fake Sakura floating in the prism.

Sierra flashed a brilliant smile. "Ah'm so glad you finally came to your senses my love." She snapped her fingers and the prism vanished and the girl within awoke, blinking at the two of them.

"Thank you." The girl muttered in Sakura's voice, distracting Eriol a moment. She looked up at him with guilty emerald eyes and Eriol's heart swayed in spite of his better judgement.

"I realize it must have been hard for you to choose marrying her over my death, especially after I refused you like that." The fake Sakura said, looking humbled.

"I..." Eriol was caught off guard... this illusion... if that's what it was... it was so real... frowning he cautiously responded, "I would never have chosen the death of a friend in such a situation if it could have been avoided, regardless of my disappointment. Life is a precious thing that should not be wasted, there is no reason strong enough that I would have preferred your death over your life. " _'And I don't even know you.'_ He added to himself.

"Shall we get on with it then?" Sierra asked, and immediately the minister was staring a him expectantly, still waiting for Eriol's answer to the question.

_/Sakura?/_ Eriol telepathed desperately. Had her voice been just an illusion? Had he made a risky promise that had turned against him? Perhaps the voice had been an illusion too... what a sick joke.

"I OBJECT!" Came a furious shout as the ceiling crashed open, debris flying everywhere and scattering the audience who shrieked as a collective and began milling about in terror.

A giant golden serpent slithered through the ceiling, hissing and baring it's teeth as it flew. Its tongue was a forked lightning bolt that shot forth from it's mouth and blew a rather good section of the wall of the church completely away. It touched down near the altar in the newly vacated spot that the minister had been standing in and closed its great ruby eyes, fading from view as its body shifted into a thousand lightning bolts that blasted outwards and completely destroyed the remainder of the church. (Miraculously, no one was harmed)

From the place where the snake once was, a familiar young man with chocolate-brown hair flew and tossed a single piece of paper in one fluid motion. Sierra, too shocked from these events to react, watched helplessly as the paper hit the forehead of the fake Sakura. He landed nimbly on the stage in between the two of them as "Sakura" collapsed, her image fading instantaneously and revealing her to be a black-haired Chinese girl Eriol had never seen before.

"Meilin!" Syaoran growled as he jumped through the two of them and caught her before her body hit the ground. Sierra reacted at last, spinning to place a spell on the two of them, when she realized that she suddenly couldn't cast her magic...

Blinking in surprise, she glanced towards Eriol, who was casually holding his hand in the air, a small pink ball of energy floating within it. Blushing profusely, she giggled and reached her hands out towards it.

"Uh Eriul, can Ah have that... please?" She asked quietly.

He raised his eyebrows and did not look amused. "You will not be using this magic any more, Sierra."

"B-but... you're still going to marry me, right? You promised..." She floundered.

Shaking his head grimly, he responded, "You didn't keep your end of the bargain. I asked you to free _Sakura_ from your spell. Not this girl!" He pointed out.

Sierra froze and tears began to run down her cheeks. "How... how did you know?" He must have known, to have made such a bargain, he had to have realized somehow that the girl she had imprisoned was not Sakura... to be so sure of himself...

"I didn't." He lied clearly, deciding it was unnecessary to tell her the truth, because what he was about to say was the truth also...

"I would have gladly given up my freedom to save Sakura's life. To make such a disgusting promise was necessary at the time. Clearly, since this girl is not Sakura, however, there is no reason why I should have to keep my promise. Since everything else was obviously a lie."

Sierra broke into despairing sobs, and Eriol pointedly ignored her, turning to his ally, who was removing the ofuda scroll from the Chinese girl's forehead.

"Syaoran?" Eriol muttered in surprise. Of all the people who might have helped him... why this man, who wanted his girl?

The brunet turned to look at him as the girl in his arms immediately came to life, her bright red eyes sparkling with happiness as she nearly strangled him with her enthusiastic hug. Eriol just watched in astonishment.

"You came for me!" She shrieked with glee, nuzzling the now stunned brunet. Blushing with embarrassment over her outburst, but smiling in spite of it, Syaoran gently squeezed the hands that were holding him so tightly and immediately she released him.

"Well, of course I did, Meilin. I couldn't have very well let that crazy woman do whatever she pleased with you." He answered kindly.

"I'm so sorry I followed you... but I knew you were acting weird... I couldn't just stay behind!" Meilin said, puffing out her cheeks and pressing her two index fingers together like she was a child about to be chastised.

"I know... and I'm sorry about leaving in the first place. I wasn't myself." He replied, stilling her nervous hands with his own.

"Wait a minute... what's going on here?" Eriol demanded in confusion, drawing the two lovebird's attention, being just a little bit miffed at being left out of a conversation that was going on in a different language he didn't understand.

Syaoran smiled apologetically and turned to Meilin, putting a finger to his lips before he stepped away from her and towards the prince. Kneeling with respect, the young Chinese male bowed his head.

"I sincerely apologize for the trouble I've given you since I arrived, your highness. As you must know by now, this crazy fiancée of yours has the ability to make people do things outside of their nature. I came here, completely under her spell. Her request of me, was that I steal Sakura from you so that she wouldn't choose to marry you. Thanks to some meddling orchestrated by your sister, I was unable to woo her in the way I'd been commanded. I owe her a great deal of gratitude for keeping me from making such a disastrous mistake, since I do not, in fact, love Sakura... but rather my fiancée, Meilin, who stands before you just to my right, also a pawn in that woman's game."

Eriol tried his best not to be _completely_ taken off guard by this, since it had initially been at Tomoyo's insistence that he keep Syaoran from winning Sakura's heart in the first place. And that was right after she'd been so adamant about them not being together. He knew there was no way Tomoyo could have known Syaoran wasn't acting of his own desires... but the coincidence was a bit unbelievable.

_"There is no such thing as coincidence" _His father had said... well, if that were true, this occurrence was proof of it! Clearly some kind of quiet magical force was keeping an eye on him and making sure he stayed on the right path...

He remembered the dying garden and how it had burst to life when Sakura had been in it. There were definitely no such thing as coincidences.

Relaxing a bit now that he knew the truth he nodded his head. "I understand... it's like what Sakura said to me, she had the ability to transform things into things they were not... to make people do things, say things, they ordinarily would not do or say."

"So, she was able to speak with you? What an untapped power that girl has..." Syaoran muttered in amazement, shaking his head as he got to his feet. Smiling, he stepped forward and reached out his hand, "I would like to make a formal peace with you, your highness, since I am a prince in my own right."

Taking the young brunet's hand and clasping it, Eriol nodded. "That can certainly be arranged, my friend. I am sorry for doubting you... though I would like to know what it was you did so long ago that made my sister hate you."

Blushing, Syaoran chuckled and earned himself curious glance from Meilin, who had up until now been looking just generally happy that Syaoran had declared his love for her and proud of him for apologizing for everything.

"Hah, well... that's a story for another time, perhaps. Call it something along the lines of being young and stupid. I'm sure you understand." He grinned.

Eriol raised an eyebrow but smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yes, that I do understand." He agreed with a laugh. Belatedly, the Englishman realized the boy had been speaking flawless English throughout the conversation.

"Your English is very good..." Eriol commented thoughtfully.

Syaoran grinned, "You're not the only one who has to take classes because a lot is expected of him. I speak quite a few languages rather fluently, as well as being an excellent violinist among other things."

Laughing, Eriol couldn't help but agree. "Being a prince is a lot of work!"

"Indeed." Syaoran nodded. "Now then, as for Sakura. You aught to know she's back in Japan. You will find her in my old apartment, with an ofuda attached to her head. For her own safety as well as my own..." He added that last bit after earning a pair of rather scary glances from both Meilin and Eriol.

"What on Earth were you doing with another girl in your apartment?" Meilin cried unhappily in Chinese.

Syaoran rose his hands up in surrender. "Nothing happened, I swear! She came to me looking like you... and... ah!" He went on the defense as the girl started punching him with some rapid-fire fighting techniques that were very impressive-looking from where Eriol was standing (even though Syaoran was blocking them effortlessly).

Shaking his head and calming down, Eriol let the two settle the score in peace. He had a girl to go rescue, after all. With a flick of his wrist and a short incantation, a tiny sun-shaped key he kept around his neck elongated into a staff. He took a seat upon it as it floated patiently in midair, then once he was aboard, it took off in the direction of Tomoeda.

* * *

_**~Rozu**_


	10. Epilogue

The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I love CCS... but I don't own it. There is an original char in here though. ;)

Key:

- Dream State - , Flashback , ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one if necessary)

Rating: T - (May change rating later)

Summary: Once upon a time there was a young prince who was lonely. One night he met a young princess, who danced with him and cured his loneliness for a while. However, before he could get her name she was gone, and the only clue she left behind was a monogrammed handkerchief with the initials _S.K._

Pairings: Sakura/Eriol, Syaoran/Meilin, Eriol/OC, Syaoran/Sakura, possibly more

Author's Note: Just so you know, the "Eriol/OC" in the pairings list does NOT mean that this is going to another one of those stories where the OC is the most awesome person, like, evah, and sweeps the unsuspecting FC off their feet while the rest of the cannon is left gaping with their mouths open like fish in a bowl. You have my word. ;)

* * *

(Epilogue)

_1 year later_

The wedding was an event unlike any other previously held at the mansion. Magic was thick in the air as doves flew overhead. Trees and flowers on all sides of the clearing were in full bloom whether it was the season for them to bloom or not, their petals and leaves sparling as though they'd been sprinkled in tons of glitter. Hundreds of thousands of people had shown up for the occasion, including the new Li clan head Syaoran Li and his new wife Meilin. Eriol stood near the altar in a suit made of a dazzling sapphire blue. He glanced over at the brunet and exchanged a smile with the man he'd once thought of as his rival in love. What a mistake it would have been if he had never discovered that the young man had never intentionally tried to steal the love of his life away from him. Surely, they would not have become as fast, close friends as they were today.

On that note, he glanced at his step-sister, who was sitting beside the married couple chatting animately with Meilin, and couldn't help but smile. How quickly Tomoyo had forgotten whatever it was she had hated Syaoran for all those years ago, insisting that since Sakura was happy now, it no longer mattered that Syaoran had once broken her heart when they were in elementary school. It warmed Eriol's heart to know that Tomoyo was so forgiving.

The pianist stopped playing whatever song it was that he'd been playing and switched without any apparent signal to the song Eriol had handpicked just for this occasion. Reflexively, Eriol turned his head to observe the beautiful young woman walking down the aisle towards him. For an instant, she looked unbelievably surreal in a dress Tomoyo herself had made, that Eriol's heart froze. Petrified with terror, he wondered as she walked if this all wasn't some kind of cruel illusion or fantastic dream that would end the instant their eyes met. Yet the moment came and left as she stepped up beside him and offered him a brilliant smile, banishing the doubts from his mind as though they'd never existed in the first place.

_'This is no illusion, my love. This is really happening.'_ Sakura's telepathy was getting much stronger now that she was practicing it all of the time. Of course, it helped that he'd given her Sierra's powers to augment her own, trusting that she would never use them for evil.

_'I know' _he thought back, smiling wryly as they turned to give the conductor of the ceremony their partial attention. _'Though, after all the years I spent searching for you... I think I've earned the right to be astounded that you are actually here.'_

Sakura sent him an amused glance from the corner of her twinkling eyes, then, to his surprise, he found himself recalling their meeting of so long ago with perfect, and rather vivid, clarity. He observed the youngsters dancing, saw the little girl with the brown hair and bright green eyes, then found himself wondering how it was he'd ever been confused. How many of the girls he'd ever dated had even bore a small resemblance to that girl beside his younger self?

Staggering a bit in surprise of just how powerful Sakura was becoming, his lips twitched as he tried not to reveal to the officiator that neither of the two of them were paying any particular attention to what he was saying.

_'Oh come on now, don't tell me you knew it was me when we ran into each other two years ago...' _Eriol commented.

_'I couldn't even recall -that- memory until the night of your birthday last year when you took me into your special corner of the garden and we made the magic come to life.'_ Sakura allowed. _'But I did feel something the day we met...'_

Another memory floated through Eriol's mind, this time, he was looking at himself as he'd stood in the front of the classroom on that first day, letting Tomoyo write his name on the board for him while he cast the spell that allowed him to understand Japanese (not that he needed that now). She shared her feelings of the memory, and Eriol nearly drowned in the sea of familiarity she had felt at the time of seeing him. Wondering how it was she could know this stranger, uncomprehending of why it was that when she looked in his eyes she knew she'd found her perfect match without ever having even spoken to him once.

_'Tell me that you didn't feel it too...'_ Sakura smiled wryly, knowing he could do no such thing.

Eriol took in a deep breath just as the pastor encouraged them to speak their vows to one another. Kneeling to the ground, he took one of her hands in his and kissed it, causing her to flush a bright pink. "Sakura," He said aloud, for everyone to hear, "I have loved you since the very first day I met you, all those years ago in my garden. Such a pure-hearted spirit to have chosen me... I thank my lucky stars every second that I managed to find you again after all of this time. I will stay by your side, now and forever... as we walk into a new beginning, together."

Beaming ecstatically, Sakura said her own vows, and the two exchanged rings, sealing the promise of undying devotion and unconditional love for the rest of their lives.

"I now pronounce you man and wife."

Eriol needed no prompting as he swept the surprised Sakura into his arms and kissed her without reservation.

* * *

**The End**

_**~Rozu**_


End file.
